Fairy Tail: The Green Warrior
by Super-mega-punch
Summary: Erza was on a standard mission from Fairy Tail but is thrust into a brand new adventure when she is saved by a mysterious warrior clad in green. This is an AU set after the grand magic games where Fairy Tail once again battles the forces of evil. My first fan-fiction. UP FOR ADOPTION, PM if interested!
1. It's dangerous to go alone!

Hey guys, this is my first fanfiction and i'm very exited about it, I've had this story in my head for a while and decided to put it down on paper. I believe this will be the average chapter length and i hope to post a chapter every week or so (depending on my studies)

Please review, I'm a new writer and need some constructive feedback on the story and my writing. is it well paced enough? any grammatical errors? and is their anything else you would like me to add to the story, I'm always open to suggestions.

for a little bit of back story this is set 3000 years after the events of skyward sword the timeline of Hyrule works as the Fairy Tail worlds back-story before the age of dragons and Zeref (who will make an appearance). Skyward sword Link has been sent forward in time by the goddesses to cure the land of a threatening evil. For now this story is just Erza and Link but i will definitely add the rest of Fairy Tail and possibly some LoZ characters too.

I've rambled enough, On with the story.

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It had taken all morning for Erza to climb the mountain. She, once again, was on a mission for Fairy Tail. The mission was simple, travel to the extinct Verdant Volcano in the south of Fiore and clean out the monsters residing there. Natsu and the team were frustrated that she had decided to go alone but every once in a while she enjoyed the solitude that being on her own provided. She had spent the morning searching for the encampment of the monsters so she could destroy them at the source and quickly be finished with the mission.

Erza had arrived at a large ledge roughly two thirds up the extinct volcano, the place was covered in tents and small, makeshift huts, ahead of her was a door indented into the edge of the mountain. The door was covered in various carvings, the centerpiece being a large circle accented with two crescent moons on one side. The encampment was deserted and eerily quiet. The red head prepared herself summoning an angel blade, knowing something was wrong. Step by step, Erza cautiously approached the door. With every step she listened for when the trap would be sprung. Below her the ground had turned from brown dust to grey stone she looked down to see a strange circle that was slightly raised from the ground baring the same insignia as the door. The quiet got quieter as she finished her step, stopping in the centre of the camp.

She then realised her suspicions had been confirmed as many short red goblin like creatures swarmed all around her each brandishing carving knives and other crude weapons. Before any of the monsters could attack her she yelled "Requip Heaven's Wheel Armour". She felt the magic energy surround her replacing her standard heart krauz armour with her far more dazzling heaven's wheel armour. The creatures seemed to shy away from the use of magic but were not perturbed for long. Summoning a second angel blade she commenced the attack.

The goblins never stood a chance as she flung them left and right trying to cut down their numbers in a dance of death. After a minute of fighting she discovered that there were no less of the fiends than when she started. She quickly shot up into the air and summoned 8 blades that suspended themselves in the air, surrounding her in a circle formation. She called out "Dance my blades" and they shot down at the goblins clearing a large chunk of them. The goblins began to wail and retreated, smiling slightly in victory Erza lowered herself to the ground to finish the remainder of the force. Then she realized her mistake. The ground had begun to shake and all of a sudden a huge red goblin burst from the ground behind and stabbed her in the back of the leg with a long spear.

Collapsing onto one knee due to the pain. Erza scowled annoyed at herself for being too overconfident. The rest of the goblins had retreated in fear of the boss. Before the leader could finish her she leapt forward towards the odd door whilst turning to face her new foe. This goblin had huge girth and wielded a metal shield and a spear. The goblin swung at her hitting a lot of his own in the process. Quickly figuring out a weak point she requiped into her black wing armour and swiftly moved to skirt around to the back of the goblin. The goblin had predicted this and swung his spear against the direction Erza was running. Erza easily jumped over the spear but on landing, her previous leg wound caught up with her and she fell. The goblin saw his opportunity and brought his spear down on her.

Time for Erza seemed to slow down. How could she possibly be defeated by such an ordinary monster. She told herself this couldn't be the end and attempted to dodge but her legs had stopped obeying her. She could feel it now, paralytic poison. She cursed and watched as the spear came down on her. She prepared to defend switching to her adamantine armour. But some thing happened that she didn't expect, she heard the ring of metal slicing through air and saw a flash of green slice through the spear.

As the dust settled on the attack, a man stood with his back to her clad in green. She was shocked to say the least, this boy couldn't be older than herself. Before she had time to take in anymore he was on the move again. The boy sprinted straight at the goblin, she could have yelled at him for being so reckless. Then she saw why; the boy had used the goblins shield to jump over the goblin slashing at its head mid-somersault making it scream in pain and drop to the floor. The boy quickly turned. For a fleeting second Erza saw the boy's face. He had long light brown/blonde hair and pointed ears hidden behind an odd hat, but what captured her were his eyes. They were wild, feral, almost wolf-like and a piercing shade of blue, eyes filled with determination.

The green warrior jumped at the goblin spinning in mid air and raising his sword to finish his foe. The goblin turned quickly raising his metal shield. The clash sent vibrations up the boys arms and he backed off hiding behind his own blue kite shield. The goblin stood up and drew a large carving knife from its belt. The two combatants circled around each other until the boy's back was facing the strange door. He had a plan. The goblin charged at him going in for a horizontal swipe. The boy dodged under the blade and sliced across the hip of the monster. The monster performed a back slash hoping to catch the boy on his return up but the boy blocked it with his shield before being knocked back by the impact. The positions had now been switch the boy's back was facing the world below. This was it. The goblin, enraged, once again charged at the warrior who simply dropped both his sword and shield. Erza yelled "What do you think your doing you idiot!?" The boy just looked at her and winked which made Erza fume with rage. Refocusing on the charging goblin who was grinning at the surrender of his foe, the boy readied himself. The collision was over in an instant. The boy grabbed the hand wielding the knife and avoided the blade by a hair's breath, at the same time he dropped onto his back placing his other hand and both feet onto the metal shield and pushed with all the might he had. The goblin went straight over the boy and was forced into the abyss below. The victor got up off the floor dusting himself down and picked up his weapons. He looked solemnly at his blade before sheathing it and approached Erza.

Erza still annoyed at herself for appearing so weak and forced herself to get up changing back to her standard armour. Fortunately the paralyzing effect was wearing off, she looked up at the boy who had reached out his hand to help her. Embarrassed at herself she took it, not being able to look him in the eye. The boy noticed this and spoke.

"Are you ok?" he then began to rummage in a tiny back pouch and brought out a rather large bottle. "Here drink this it will make you feel better."

Erza realized she was still holding his hand and quickly ended the contact. She took the bottle and looked at it. It was filled with a rather viscous red liquid, it looked vile. Uncorking it she took a sip and was surprised to find it tasted incredibly sweet, like strawberries. She smiled before taking another gulp looking up to thank the boy, he just smiled at her. She felt tingling down back of her leg and her wound had closed up amazed she stood up and flexed her leg to test that the potion had worked.

The boy grinned widely and held out his hand for a shake. "The names Link."

Erza took the hand and said "Erza" finally looking on his face.

That was the first time Link had got a proper look at her face and rather rudely he gasped and began to stare.

"What are you looking at?" Erza said menacingly, she didnt appriciate his reaction to her.

Link shook his head realising he was being rude. "Sorry its just … you look like someone I used to know."

Erza frowned but dismissed it, much to his relief, and handed back the bottle.

"So there must be a reason your up here in the middle of nowhere." Link said

"Yes, I was on a mission from my guild." Erza replied

"Guild?" Link looked confused, he had never come across the word before

"Do you have your head in the sand, guilds are everywhere. We are collections of mages that perform jobs for the general public. You must be in a guild if you possess that amount of strength." She stated enquiringly.

"Urm, actually I'm not in a guild at all, but they sound fun."

At that Erza smiled thinking of her comrades and the time they have spent together.

"Yes it is fun." Erza said reeminiscing her times with Fairy Tail. "I'm from a guild named Fairy Tail and was sent on a mission to clean out the area of monsters which I guess you completed for me."

"Hmm, sorry about that, you seemed like you needed help. You must really love your guild if you talk about them like that."

"Yeh. So what about you why are you up here?"

At that Link panicked slightly "Urm I'm here to … Take a look at the view…" He said unconvincingly, hoping she would believe him. She glared at him and he sweat dropped for not thinking of a better excuse. "Truth is I was told if came here I would find what I would need"

"Told, told by who?" Erza enquired something was up here.

"Doesn't matter, but I guess what I'm looking for will be through this door. Give me a hand." Link walked over to the large door and traced the motif in the centre with a slight sense of nostaligia. There was no doubt he was in the right place.

Erza wasn't quite satisfied with his answer but decided not to pry and walked over to help; she was more than curious as to what was behind the door.

They both approached the door and tried to push it open to no avail. Link frowned and thought for a moment. Looking behind them there was the small decorated circle on the ground with the same insignia as was on the door. Link walked towards it and told Erza to stand back.

"What are you going to do?" She asked confused.

"Just watch." Link replied as he reached into the tiny pouch. He pulled out a golden harp. It looked very similar to the hand harp Lucy's celestial spirit Lyra played.

Link closed his eyes and played the tune he knew best on the harp. The song played by Zelda on the day of the wing ceremony and the one she played when he had to leave. Erza thought the song sounded beautiful. It was so sweet and simple but at the same time strong and powerful. It was only now Erza got a good look at Link. He wore a green tunic with a matching hat, peeking out underneath the tunic was silver chain-mail. He wore leather greaves and gauntlets as well as a steel shoulder guard on his sword arm. Across his back was a standard sword and a blue kite shield decorated with a red bird and three golden triangles. He looked so calm as he held the harp close to his chest. With his eyes now closed, the ferocity that was there before had totally melted and she noticed out of the corner of his eye there was a single tear. She could tell this song was important to him and all to soon to soon it had ended.

Erza felt a whole mix of emotions "Link, that was beautiful." She almost whispered. But Link heard and smiled at her in thanks wiping away the single tear.

The markings on the door began to glow a bright green. The ground rumbled and the doors opened. Link walked to the entrance gazing down the new staircase a new look of determination came across his face as he stared into the darkness. Erza just stood there looking at the boy. Link raised his head looked straight into Erza's eyes.

He grinned and said "So, Are you coming?" Instictively Erza nodded and ran to his side looking into the depths. With one last glance at each other they descended into the darkness.

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So that was the first chapter. Please tell me what you think, just in case you didn't know the song Link was playing was the ballad of the goddess, i realise the moment was cheesey but cheesey fluff is the best, expect more.

thanks for reading and i'll see you next chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or the Legend of Zelda or any of the characters and settings that will appear in the entire story. they belong solely to those who created them.


	2. Verdant Volcano

Hey guys, so this is chapter two, I'm actually incredibly happy with this one, i was aiming to develop my charaters a bit more. So far no other characters have been introduced but this chapter should explain a little bit about whats going to happen in the future. Please favourite and review.

Enjoy

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The cave they were in was stunning. Moss covered every wall, dotted with colourful fungi that provided light in the form of golden spores that were suspended in the air. Large tree roots crossed the length of the cave system randomly. It was a complete contrast to the outside of the volcano which was dry and desolate. The air was thick and ancient as if no man had been here in centuries. It was almost romantic.

Erza blushed at the thought trying to change the subject in her own mind. She shouldn't think about that with a guy she'd only just met, it was a rather bad habit of hers. She looked ahead at the man she was following, Link. He was roughly her height maybe a few inches taller. He was being very chivalrous always lending her his hand when a root crossed their path and giving her the same innocent smile. Of course Erza had seen enough to realise that the smile was a façade, she had seen it numerous times before, she had even worn a similar one once. She could tell Link had been through many trials, it was clearly visible on his face and in his eyes; despite his happy outward appearance he was missing something inside.

Link was frustrated with himself. Normally there was no-one to accompany him during his adventures and now he had no idea how to act around people or hold a friendly conversation whilst on an adventure. He was never really one to talk much anyway. It didn't help that the woman he was with was remarkably pretty, in fact the first time he saw Erza he thought she looked remarkably similar to Zelda. Without the red hair they could have been twins. He felt a pang of guilt as he thought back to his childhood friend, memories of her used to always make him smile but now it was different.

"Hey Link, I forgot to thank you for helping me earlier." Erza said breaking the silence.

"Urm... Well Don't worry, It was my pleasure." Link replied. The awkward silence begun again she wondered if he was ignoring her on purpose.

"So Link, if you're not a member of a guild, where are you from?"

"um, I'm from a town named Skyloft."

Erza had never heard of the place.

"Is that somewhere outside of Fiore. I don't think I've ever visited." Erza noticed Link was being rather eloof about his life. _maybe i shouldn't pry, she though._

"No, I doubt you will have, it's a… A long way away," Link thought back to his old home. "What about you? Have you been a member of your... guild for long?" He asked, stumbling slightly on the unfamiliar word.

"Well yes, Fairy Tail has been my home for most of my life. I can't imagine life without it. It's filled with amazing people all of them incredible wizards in their own rights. It's just a fun place to be."

Before conversation could continue Link held out his arm stopping in his tracks.

"What's going on?" Erza said peeking over his shoulder.

"The roots they're alive." Link said, Erza thought he was being stupid of course roots were alive. She was about to say so when she saw what he meant. The roots were literally bulging, as if something were trying to break out of the thick moss that covered them. All of a sudden the moss of one root had split and out came a contortion of wood that vaguely resembled a human hand, a crude body followed tearing it's way out of the root. It was made out of an entanglement of wood and vines. A glowing green core could be seen running throughout the tree man, Erza could feel the magic energy it was giving off. Two more appeared at its side and each lengthened their arms into long thorny lances. They charged. Link took out his sword and readied himself. Erza decided now would be the time to impress him with her strength to make up for earlier. "Requip flame empress armour" Link turned to investigate the golden light that was given off to find Erza in a rather revealing set of armour. the armour was predominantly a deep red, matching her hair which was now in long pigtails, accented with orange and black embellishments in the shape of flames. Link noticed how it revealed a rather large amount of cleavage as well as being totally bare at the top of the thighs. Before he had time to react to it she was off. Her black blade set alight and she launched herself towards the enemy taking down the first two in two quick slices. Link got a hold of himself as the third ran past Erza in his direction. Deflecting the wooden lance with his shield he thrust forward into the core of the tree man (he figured it was the weak point) and sliced upwards dislocating the neck and severing the connection of the green root. Once finished Erza looked back at Link to make sure he was watching. Link had sheathed his sword and was looking rather uncomfortable and avoiding her gaze.

"Is something wrong Link?"

"No, nothing." He said confirming that something was wrong.

"Are you sure? you appear to look rather uncomfortable."

Link blushed and quietly asked "Is all your special armour that revealing."

"Why? Is that important?" Erza was totally oblivious. All of her guild mates had got used to her strange armours now, either that or they were to afraid to ask so Erza never assumed it was a problem.

"No. Don't worry it's fine you just don't seem to well protected by it. That's all." Link didn't make eye contact.

"The armour serves it's purpose. Looks don't matter so long as it does what is required."

With that she requiped back into her heart krauz armour and continued forward. Link caught up and they walked side by side down the tunnel.

"Where did you learn to do that Erza? I've never seen magic like that before." Link enquired.

"Seriously! its actually quite a common form of magic. Most people can only use it for weapons and equipment. It's taken me 8 years to master armour requiping. I thought that's what you used to get that huge bottle out of the tiny pouch."

"No, this is just an adventure pouch I can keep a specific number of items in it no matter the size and they come out when I need them. I don't know how it works but I've all sorts in here: bottles, shields, a net, a bow. It's a bit ridiculous really."

"Right, weird." Erza mused. "So, if your bot from a guild, where did you learn how to fight so well, your skill with a blade is incredible?"

"I was trained in the knight's academy in my home town. Originally I wasn't good at sword play. Unlike the other guys, I never found the fun in beating animals and other people with sticks. It wasn't until later when I needed to fight to protect someone i got truly good at it. I practiced for hours everyday. How about you?" Erza wondered who it was he needed to protect and where he or she was now.

"Well unlike you I accidentally discovered I had a natural affinity for weapons." Erza thought back to the R-project and how she had first discovered her power. "I then joined Fairy Tail and they helped me hone my skills. My blades are only fatal to monsters they have enchantments to stop them killing humans, although I would never let that happen. I'm now an S-class wizard at Fairy Tail."

"I assume that's good?"

"Yes it puts me on a different level to the rest of the guild, I get to do far more dangerous missions that others would never be able to complete alone."Erza finished

Erza and Link continued through the cave, occasionally tree men would appear but they were never too much trouble and were easily fended off although not striking them in the core would allow them to grow back their limbs, making them more of a challenge than the pair had originally anticipated. Often the pair would take a wrong turn and reach a dead end but despite that they persevered. It was after around hour and a half they found a large chamber with shafts of sunlight cascading through holes in the roof. The roots did not extend into the room like in the tunnels however a large dark tree took up the centre of the room covered in the same thick moss as the walls. To the right was a large door similar to the entrance of the cave. Link had been in this situation enough times to know what was about to happen. Drawing his sword and equipping his hylian shield, he strode into the room. Erza was about to follow when vines crossed the entrance blocking her path. She immediately summoned a sword and tried to cut through.

"I'm afraid you wont get through those vines. It's a magical barrier meaning it won't go until I complete the trial in this room. Or fail it." Link said the last part under his breath.

"I don't care you idiot, we entered this cave together. We will fight together. You knew this was going to happen. Why didn't you let me join you?" Erza shouted, incredibly annoyed at the man.

Link smiled at her courage "Erza I'll be fine, it's better that I know you're safe, the vines will open in a minute just wait." This didn't stop Erza as she continued to hack away, how could he have been so inconsiderate? What would she do if Link got seriously injured or died without her being able to do anything? She wouldn't be able to live with herself. Link turned to face the tree. It was best for him to face this trial alone, he was unused to fighting with other people and preferred not to have the responsaibility of protecting her as well as protecting himself. Besides Link had faced far worse foes alone before.

As expected the moss began to bulge and split in certain places. The tree slowly became more animated its branches becoming more flexible and whip like. The tree uprooted itself on a collection of root like legs and a hollow formed in the tree forming a large menacing mouth. A single green eye opened and targeted Link, Farores's guardian had awoken. Erza frantically sliced at the vines, but they only grew back, she wouldn't surrender. Link prepared himself for battle.

The guardian began its attack sending numerous vines at link. Link parried them all, slicing them into firewood. Moving across to a patch of light, the tree began to absorb sunlight. His eye glowed brightly as it charged up what was to be a devastating attack. Out of the eye a beam of pure light shot out Link dodged it performing a swift back flip. Erza had to shield her eyes from the light. The next volley of branches was as intense as the first. Link blocked most of them but a single one managed to whip round and strike Links back. In that flinching moment the tree saw its opportunity, releasing more vines it wrapped around Link's ankles and wrists suspending him in midair. Link managed to free his sword arm but was still struggling with his other limbs. Vines began to crawl all over link's body and began to crush him, he struggled for breath as the tree prepared for a second beam attack, this time it wouldn't miss. Erza was in a frenzy madly hacking at the vines. She suddenly had an idea. Obviously the eye was the source of the attack and even if she couldn't get through the vines blocking her, she still had one trick up her sleeve.

She summoned a silver bow and quiver and took aim at the guardian's eye. Erza took the opportunity and shot, it directly hit the centre of the eye. The monster bellowed and the branches loosened their grip and Link broke free using a spin attack. The tree lost balance and fell on it's front revealing a large black crack in the back of the trunk that was oozing with a disgusting dark liquid. Link ran up to it and stabbed down into the crack causing the tree to bellow in pain. The tree got up again enraged, it's eye was now closed and Erza couldn't get a clear shot. The ground had begun to shake and roots erupted all around Link flailing wildly. Link launched into a new spin attack cutting down most of the roots surrounding him. He then began to dodge the remainders making sure the blind tree did not see or feel his next attack coming. Erza knocked an arrow predicting Links strategy. Link rolled under the trees legs and ran to eget to the back of the tree. Breaking behind it he leapt at it attempting an accurate finishing move. His blade sunk into the crack which began to ooze more black liquid. In pain guardians eye shot open. Erza took her chance and sent an arrow straight for the eye, infusing it with magical energy. The shot was perfect again striking the tree and causing it to bellow in pain, the tree collapsed dead and began to decay rapidly.

The black goo oozed out of the tree and melted into the ground. Erza stepped into the chamber and stood beside Link looking at their handiwork. Link once again looked at his blade, "It just doesn't feel right." Link mused. he then sheathed the blade and faced Erza to receive a rather vicious slap across the face. Erza immediately regretted it when he looked back at her his face looked like a kicked puppy's. Staying resolute she stated "I may just be with you for this mission but if you ever do that again I will kill you myself." Link visibly gulped and looked incredibly apologetic. Erza noticed he had a completely different look to Natsu and Gray when they were being scolded, more hurt than fear-filled. Not being able to bare it anymore Erza hugged him unexpectedly, she didn't really know why.

"Promise me you won't do it again." Link smiled genuinely and nodded, a sense of déjà vu washing over him. That was enough for Erza.

A new tingling sound came from the dead tree as a blue orb of light rose from the corpse and sprouted wings.

"Hero of legend. I am the guardian pixie of Farore's wind,you know me as Faron. I am who you seek. Link, you already know you have come to this land of magic to rid it of a foul evil. You must take up the sword of evils bane that you once forged in the ancient flames and raise it against the darkness of this world."

Erza was confused did the pixie mean Zeref? What did link have to do with him?

"Where can I find it? What do I do?" Link asked desperately confused as to what he was meant to be doing.

"The blade is hidden in the sacred realm you created but is protected by three seals. Three spells created by the goddesses themselves act as the keys to the sacred realm. The first one is beyond this door. Come now."

The pixie floated through the opposite door that was now open. Erza was speechless. She hadn't a clue what was going on, she just followed Link determined she would get an explanation out of him soon.

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A huge thank you to anyone who reviewed and favourited, The support has been inspiring, i hope to post again soon so thanks again!


	3. Dusk

Here it is, chapter three.

This chapter is quite short and is mostly explanatory. it will explain the story of skyward sword with minimal spoilers so don't worry If you havent played it yet. When you get to the spring I imagine it like the ones from twilight princess so i hope that helps you visualise it as my descriptive writing needs work.

I'd like to thank you all for the support you've given me. All the reviews have been incredibly useful and I love to read them, so please keep them coming. Again i'm sorry for any grammatical errors, if you spot any let me know!

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Both Erza and Link gasped as they stepped through the door. The vast volcano crater lay out before them, the whole place shone in the setting sun. The crater appeared to be totally untouched by civilisation except for a worn mossy stone path that meandered out ahead of them through a thick untamed forest. Around them was all kinds of flora with lots of densely packed greenery baring large fruits and stunning flowers. All kinds of birds flew above the tree tops and sang to the heavens.

The blue pixie flew ahead down the path, Erza and Link followed closely while taking in the incredible surroundings. It wasn't long before they came across a spring with a pedestal in the centre at the end of a stone walkway. A green gemstone was inset into the pedestal and gave off a faint glow. The spring was set inside a stone cove, water lightly fell from above filling a pool that tiered down twice before it reached the level surrounding the pedestal. The water surrounding the stone walkway was perfectly clear, fresh and dotted with lilypads growing perfect lotus flowers, fish basked on the rocks in the setting sun

"Hero, raise your hand to the gemstone and accept Farore's gift," The voice from the pixie spoke.

Link stepped forward raising his left hand over the emerald. Erza saw his hand begin to glow, a trio of triangles and began to pulse on the back of his hand releasing a golden light. The gemstone began to glow and an odd green aura flowed from it wrapping its way up Link's arm. Eventually the triangles and the aura faded and Link lowered his hand, new knowledge filling his head.

"Hero, this is the spell Farore's Wind, may it serve you well in the trials to come. You still must collect two other spells. Search next for Din's Fire. I wish you both luck on your journeys."

With that the pixie faded into nothing as the sun set. The whole crater was cast into twilight as the moon began to rise ahead of them. It wasn't long before the golden sunlight was replaced by the silver light of the moon, changing the atmosphere completely.

Link turned towards Erza. "Well, it's getting dark. We should find a place to sleep."

Erza sighed. Link was right; it was too dark now to descend from the mountain and both of them were exhausted. Link, removing his hat and unbuckling his sword and shield, sat down with his back to a tree. Erza joined him. Link pulled out from his adventure pouch a bottle filled with an orange liquid, lumps of chicken and pumpkin floated inside it.

"Would you like some?" Link asked

"No, I'm fine," Erza said politely. "Thank you."

As if on cue her stomach rumbled loudly. Erza's face flushed with embarrassment. She turned away, hugging her legs in shame as Link began to laugh.

Then karma took it's toll and Links stomach growled with twice the magnitude. Link froze and Erza turned back, a grin breaking out on both of their faces before they both laughed.

"I guess we'll share" Link poured half of the soup into a second bottle and handing it to Erza. Erza took the bottle gratefully and lifted it.

"To a successful job" Link clinked the bottles together and they began to drink the soup. Erza was surprised it tasted incredible it was sweet and heartwarming. After finishing Erza decided it was time to inquire about Link. There was just too much she didn't understand.

"Link, I need you to tell me the truth; who are you and why are you here?"

"I guess I owe you an explanation. but I warn you, it's a long story."

"Well, we've got time."

"I guess. Right..." Link prepared himself, wondering where to start.

"Firstly, I'm not from this time. Three thousand years ago this land was wild and untamed, filled with darkness created by an entity known as Demise. In response, the goddess Hylia sealed him away for many years, cursing him into a hideous form. Humanity was raised to the heavens on giant floating islands. The largest of which became the town Skyloft, my hometown."

"Wait, you're three thousand years old? That makes you older than gramps!"

Link was suprised that this was the bit she found issue with. He quickly answered "Gosh no, I had to travel through time to get here. I arrived at Skyloft when I was roughly five years old. I don't remember anything before that time. I was a shy kid and spoke to no one except a girl named," Link almost stuttered, "Zelda,"

"We spent our whole childhood on the island playing. She would always be the hero, and the villain, and I would be the damsel in distress. She was very outgoing and would always drag me into her wild schemes and pranks, we would always get caught. We spent whole days wondering what was below us and swore one day we would travel together to the surface below," Link was smiling to himself in remembrance. It was the same smile Erza used when talking about fairy tail.

"We eventually joined the knights academy like the other children," Link continued. "Where we learned how to fight, how to fly, maths, cooking, reading and all sorts of other things. When I was seventeen I participated in the Wing Ceremony to graduate to knighthood. It is a fairly extravagant ceremony where I'm from, only one trainee can graduate a year. That year I won beating my biggest rival Groose. Zelda was acting as the goddess of the sky in the ceremony that year and I won her sailcloth both she and I were elated. But it didn't last," Link face fell as he recalled the end of that day.

"Later that day me and her were together when we were hit by a tornado and Zelda fell down to the surface below. I swore I would save her and that night I was called by the real goddess, Hylia. The servant of the goddess, Fi, guided me to the temple in the sky and I discovered it was my destiny to take the holy blade, the skyward sword, and cleanse the surface of darkness and defeat Demise. At that point I didn't care about saving the world, I was only interested in saving Zelda. I flew straight to the lower world, accompanied by Fi who resided in my magic sword and what I found was incredible. I discovered things beyond my wildest dreams: tiny birds, burning water and frozen earth. I traveled around the land cleansing it of evil in order to find Zelda. On my adventure I forged the master sword and claimed the triforce so I could defeat Demise who needed Zelda to free himself and destroy the world. After two years I succeeded, I defeated Demise and his underling Ghirahim and saved Zelda. However Demise laid an odd curse on himself, Zelda and me In his dying breath. It appears that throughout time incarnations of the three of us have fought against each other eventually leading the world to disaster creating the age of dragons which broke the curse. After winning a peaceful life in my own time along with Zelda we founded the kingdom of Hyrule. After a time we were told about the far future by the goddesses of creation and I was sent here by them to defeat the final incarnation of Demise."

For some time, Erza was speechless. The tale was truly crazy, no sane person would believe this in a million years but Erza found her self with no choice but to know that what Link had told her was nothing less than the truth.

"I'm sorry, Link," she eventually said.

"What for?"

"Well, you must have had to leave the one you love behind just because of the goddess's calling. It just doesn't seem fair," Erza's voice was filled with sympathy as she thought of the friends she left behind at the Tower of Heaven.

"It isn't at all, but I know what will happen if Demise rises again. I chose to come here and stop him. To stop this world perishing I will gladly be the sacrifice." Link said with a hint of guilt in his voice. Erza was shocked. Her face frowned in sadness.

"Don't say that Link, In my time I've learned that our lives are far more valuable than the world, not to us but to the people who love us. The people we laugh and cry with."

That hit Link like a dagger, he clenched his fist holding a handful of grass tightly and looked to the sky. "I know, i... I havent realised it until now but i know." His eyes began to water up as he looked up at the sky. In the past it had comforted him to know that no matter where he was in Hyrule she was at least under the same sky as him, he did not have that comfort anymore. He was alone.

Erza looked at Link and saw the lonliness in his eyes. She realised that Link didn't actually know anyone in this world, he didn't have anyone who care for him here. Erza felt a pang of pity, it must be so lonely having to go on and adventure like this all on your own. Erza had made up her mind.

"I've decided you are joining Fairy Tail. It's exactly what you need." Erza ordered.

"What? Where did that come from?" Link said caught totally of guard.

"I will not take no for an answer, Link you and I are returning to the guild tomorrow and i won't take no for an answer." Erza was now stood up pointing a Link and barking the order like a general in an army.

"Are you sure it would be alright? I mean, i'm not actually a mage." Link asked confused.

"Well you just learned a spell didn't you, and you may not realise it but swordplay is a form of magic too. Besides of course it would be alright, I would love for you to join." Erza put her hand on Link's shoulder comforting him.

Link's frown began to perk up, he was feeling far to emotional. Erza bent down and looked directly in his eyes.

"I've decided, Your not doing this alone anymore. I will have your back for the rest of your journey and so will the rest of Fairy Tail! It's our problem now." Erza commanded. Link was surprised how scary she could become when she was certain about something and decided it was best not to fight back, he knew it would be futile. Link felt incredibly grateful it would be wonderful to have a new companion, to be part of a new family. He knew this was what he needed but even so was he really allowed to do this?

"Besides our best lead is in Fairy Tail." Erza's confident tone lowering

"What? Who are you talking about?" Link asked.

"Lets just say I know of a certain fire fanatic who may be able to help find Din's flame. It's also the most likely place where we can get you back to Zelda. That is, if you want too." Erza choked up a bit saying this.

Link looked into her brown eyes and smiled. "Thanks Erza it means a lot."

"But I should tell you. In return for my help I want to fight you." She announced

"A fight?" Link's confused face returned.

"Yes, when we get back I want to assess your strength properly." Link grinned, it was the same grin that Natsu got before a fight, although he hated some aspects of combat he did enjoy the thrill of the fight.

"Fine, I accept your offer. But you should know I'm not holding back on you."

"More like you can't afford to hold back." Erza claimed getting competitive.

"Well, we'll see. We should get some sleep, the moons almost above our heads."

"Aye, sir!"

Link looked confused

"You'll understand tomorrow. Sleep well."

"You too" Link replied as he closed his eyes. Thankful that he no longer had to hide from her. He always struggled to lie to Zelda, Erza seemed to be no different, he dodnt quite understand it but in the space of an afternoon Link had managed to make himself a life long friend. It only took a few minutes for Link to drift in to, for once, a peaceful sleep. Erza watched the hero for a while looking at his peaceful face, thinking about what he had told her. She was glad he had no more secrets she felt she knew him a lot better. She rested her head on the trunk behind her and stared at the night's sky filled with countless stars that shone down on the surrounding forest making the spring ahead sparkle beautifully. In truth she found she didn't want to see him go back to his own time, she had taken a liking to him, but if it was what he wanted she would help. Contented she closed her eyes and let the crickets sing her to sleep.


	4. Airya

Chapter 4!

I enjoyed writing this chapter and i'm sure you'll see why soon!

also i plan on writing Link and Erza's fight soon so i would like to know who you want to win, i have my idea but i'd like your feedback too. Thanks to everyone who reviewed and to Schniedragon88 for the proof read, it has all really helped.

Enjoy!

* * *

Erza woke up first, feeling a light pressure on the side of her head. Eyes shooting open she realised what it was, she had been resting her head on Link's shoulder. She quickly sat up straight, her face quickly becoming the same colour as her hair. Looking back she noticed he was still asleep, head lolling limply to the side and… is that drool dribbling down his cheek. Honestly he was almost as bad as Natsu.

Letting him sleep, she stood up and decided to try and find some breakfast before he woke. She left the makeshift camp they'd made (if that's what you could call it) and headed into the forest. It was thicker than she'd thought, she had huge trouble traversing over the bushes in her way without harming them. After only five minutes her legs were covered in the dew that had condensed on the surrounding leaves and every now and than a large drop of water would free itself from a tree and plummet on to her head much to her annoyance. Still the dense forest in the morning mist was magical. The droplets reflected the morning sunlight making the forest sparkle iridescently.

It wasn't long before she came across a large tree abundant in perfectly ripe with peach fruits. Erza requiped into her flight armour so she could easily climb the tree. With a swift leap she managed to get high enough to perform a heel drop on one of the lower branches in order to knock of some of the fruit. In her eagerness she ended up hitting the branch far too hard shaking the whole tree giving a large flock of birds a rather rude awakening. Landing on the ground Erza and picked up an armful of the succulent fruit proud of her find and stood up ready to return. She felt a heavy wind pick up from behind her, it was oddly inconsistent but came in long strong beats. Dismissing it she began to head back until she heard a large thud behind her. Freezing she looked behind her and was greeted by a huge red bird glaring at her angrily.

"Um, nice birdy." Erza said backing away.

The bird replied with and ear piercing screech. Erza dropped the fruit and ran, the bird giving chase.

Link was still dozing peacefully against the tree when he heard the screech "uh leave me alone Zelda it's not even midday yet." When he got no reply he got suspicious and opened an eye. Realising there was no one about, he shut it again returning to his slumber, almost. He then heard a loud yell and the sound of heavy footsteps both getting closer. In an instant a woman was in front of him shaking him violently.

"Argh seriously Zelda cut it out. I'm up already." He opened his eyes to see Erza's face full of panic.

"Link…crazy...big bird…red…coming…we gotta go" Erza gasped badly out of breath

She dragged Link to his feet picking up his sword and shield. When she turned back in panic she saw a flash of red and Link was gone. She gasped worriedly and turned to follow the red flash to see that Link had beem tackled by the bird and was now rolling around with the crazy thing as if they were old childhood friends. The bird pinned Link to the ground who was laughing loudly, he admitted defeat. The bird got off and helped link to his feet using his large beak. Link and the bird looked over at Erza and her thoroughly confused face, immediately both he and the bird laughed hysterically.

Enraged Erza yelled "And what is so funny." This stimulated another fit of hysterics from Link and the bird.

A dark aura began to form around Erza and the pair instantly stopped laughing and had begun to fight trying to hide behind each other to avoid her wrath, the bird won but it wasn't a particularly good hiding spot. Erza stormed up to Link pointing her finger menacingly

"You had better tell me whats going on or I'll knock you out here and now."

Link gulped loudly "Erza, hey, theres no need for that. This is my loftwing from Skyloft, Airya. We've known each other since we were kids."

"That bird tried to kill me." She said furious,

Airya hissed loudly shaking his feathers and Link chuckled.

"Airya, would never do something like that, you must have done something to scare her." He turned and stroked his loftwing lovingly "naw, did the mean woman scare you." The bird nodded melodramatically looking hurt. Link turned back to Erza. "Apologise now." He commanded

Erza was at a loss for words like hell she was going to apologise to a bird. Links face hardened making her feel guilty, It was her fault, kinda.

"Sorry." She said sulking and not making eye contact. He turned back and continued petting his bird.

"It's ok now, the scary woman won't hurt you." Behind Link's back Erza and the bird glared daggers at each other this wasn't over.

"Good, now we've got that out of the way, let's get some food and then we can fly over to Fairy Tail." Erza was about to protest about flying on that, thing. But before she could, the bird lowered its head to Links level opening its beak to reveal the peaches she had picked from earlier.

"Airya, thank you, your so dependable well done." Link praised. The bird shot a smug look and Erza swore she would get her revenge on the damn bird. It was barely 9 o'clock and she had already made a new rival; not to mention it was a bird.

Handing Erza a peach Link said "Eat up, I'd like to get to Fairy Tail as soon as possible"

Erza smiled grimly taking the saliva covered peach. As Link turned and said "Lets go." Erza threw the peach away in disgust.

Airya lowered her head and Link climbed aboard offering a hand to Erza. Airya wanted nothing more to throw her off, Erza wanted nothing more than to get off but they mentally formed a temporary truce. _We'll finish this later bird_. Erza thought. "Wrap your arms around me." Link instructed. Erza looked skeptical but she latched on tightly as the bird began to run the ride wasn't exactly comfortable. "Keep your head down and your mouth closed… Unless you like the taste of flies."

"Who likes the taste of flies idio...ack."

"I warned you." Link laughed

With two powerful wing beats the Loftwing had lifted off and had began to glide over the green crater. Link and Erza took a last look at the hidden paradise before they headed north. Erza couldn't deny, soaring down the mountain on the back of the huge crimson bird was one of the best feelings she'd ever experienced. Link could tell she was enjoying herself and pulled Airya into a spinning dive earning a cute yelp from Erza. The trio glided towards the city of Magnolia, home of Fairy Tail.

(...)

It was evening when they reached Magnolia. Erza had never seen it from a birds eye view before and was without a doubt truly enchanted. The canals glistened in the sun and the houses looked like toys, the whole city was mapped out in front of them. Airya flew low as they circled the cathedral. Erza looked down at all the tiny people gawking at the sight. It's not everyday you see a giant red bird above your home town.

"Is that the place." Link nodded to the large castle like building against a lake baring the distinctive Fairy Tail guild mark. The guild had reclaimed it using the money they'd won from the grand magic games.

"Yes that's it, we're home." Erza smiled

"Ok then, brace yourself."

"Link we're too high, we can't land. What do you think you're doing?"

Link and Airya shared a mischievous glance. "Erza, do you trust me?" Link yelled over the sound of the wind. Erza didn't really know she had met this guy yesterday and had just invited him to the guild, from one day she knew he wasn't a threat and was a good man, besides he had saved her more than once recently.

"Yes, Why?"

Soaring above the guildhall the loftwing swiftly spun round so she was flying upside down throwing both Link and Erza off. Erza yelled in shock as they plummeted. Link grabbed Erza laughing and pulled her in releasing the sailcloth Zelda had given him all that time ago. They both floated down landing perfectly in front of the guildhall.

"That's a shame, no one saw our cool entrance." Link sighed.

Erza then viciously kicked Link's legs out from under him and pinned him to the ground with a single foot.

"Do not ever do that again…" Erza threatened. She held her hand out. "without telling me." Link laughed nervously taking the hand to be pulled up. The pair faced the large door of the guild.

A sudden wave of nerves flew over Erza. This was it. It felt different than when she'd found new members before. Why was it so different? Maybe this is what it felt like introducing a boyfriend to the family. She paled knowing what was awaiting inside the guild hall and how embarrassing her family could be. With a final breath she opened the doors.

The scene played out just as she knew it would. Natsu and an almost naked Gray were standing in the centre of the guildhall there foreheads clashing as they yelled at each other. Lucy was holding Natsu back whilst Wendy, Happy and Carla held back Gray. The rest of the guild just watched as the inevitable unfolded before them.

"Watch where you going flame brain you almost knocked over my drink."

"Watch where I'm going, what about you? I was walking here you fridge."

"What did you just call me."

"You heard me."

"Do you guys always have to fight." Lucy yelled.

"Lucy it's hopeless just let them get it over with," Said Cana from the bar "Gray your clothes." Gray wasn't listening.

"You wanna go, I was just getting bored." He challenged towards Natsu

"Ha, well now I'm all fired up."

"Let's dance jackass."

"Gray my love, I'll stand by your side." Juvia said meekly from behind a pillar. No one heard.

Fists began to fly towards each other in a clash of ice and fire, that was when Erza stepped in. With a swift smack to each of their heads both crippled and fell to the floor. The duo looked up at Erza, their faces pleading for their lives.

"Can you two not last one second without having to rip each other apart. Can't you see we have a guest that might join us, try making a better impression."

At that point everybody's head turned to the man in green standing at the door. Link felt incredibly self-conscious but taking a breath and building up his courage he stepped into the guild hall, grinned widely and put his hand behind his head. The guild all got up to meet the guy cheering loudly, Link was a tad overwhelmed. Before it could get out of hand Erza glared at the mob. Feeling her menacing presence the guild immediately backed off to avoid her wrath. Link walked to her side and they walked to the right of the hall where the bar was. Standing on the bar was an incredibly short old man wearing rather odd clothes, the master of the guild, behind him stood a pretty young lady in a long red dress with snow white hair.

"So you wish to join our guild eh?" The master examined Link.

"Yes he would master, this is…"

"I'm sure the boy can speak for himself Erza." The master turned to Link. Link drew his sword and bowed holding it out in front of him.

"Sir, my name is Link, I would be honoured if you'd allow me to join your guild. My sword is yours." After a moment of silence the whole guild burst out laughing Link's face flushed red.

"There's no need to be so formal boy, put your sword away before you hurt yourself."

Link stood up and sheathed the blade. The laughter died down.

"You'll fit in nicely here Link. I am Makarov Dreyar, the master of Fairy Tail. We would be glad to have you. Where would you like your guild mark." Link looked puzzled then noticed everyone in the guild was wearing the Fairy Tail insignia somewhere on their bodies, one guy even had it on his tongue. Link removed his right gauntlet, the one without the triforce on it. The pretty woman smiled sweetly and took his hand bringing out a large stamp. Placing his hand on the bar top she stamped his hand. He held it up, and right there on the back of his hand in a deep red colour was the symbol of Fairy Tail. He beamed happily.

"Link let me be the first to welcome you to Fairy Tail, our family." Markarov cheered. The whole guild cheered loudly holding up their mugs even the more reserved members applauded. Link turned to Erza who gave him a tight, unexpected hug. Link had done it, he had joined Fairy Tail.

"Let the welcoming party BEGIN!" Markarov shouted. The guild roared in agreement.


	5. Link vs Erza!

Chapter 5 (II) - Link vs Erza

Hey guys so I've rewritten the chapter and am much happier with it. I would like to send a huge thank you to Jackflame who betaread the new chapter and helped me come up with the new ideas.

Please leave a review, feedback on the revised chapter will really help me.

Enjoy!

* * *

Link woke up the next morning with a splitting headache, he could hardly open his eyes. What in Hylia's name happened last night? He remembered up till around evening. He had spent the afternoon being shown around and introduced to the many people at Fairy Tail, there were so many of them that Link could only remember some of their names. Then the games began everyone drank and made merry, by 9 o'clock most people were unable to stand properly. After that memories were hazy, he remembered a good looking brunette challenge him to a drinking contest? _Was her name Cana?_ Link was confident he could've beat the woman and accepted the challenge. When she ordered two kegs of beer, Link's face dropped, could he manage that much? He had never drunk a huge amount before because he was underage back in Skyloft. Although he did remember a time when Zelda had stolen a large bottle of her father's whiskey. She'd spent the rest of the night vomiting as Link looked after her. They'd both regretted it the morning after.

A large white haired man, Elfman? Had yelled "Real men don't back down." Patting him rather hard on the back. Link took the barrel deciding he couldn't back down and started chugging, the brunette did the same. Link fought valiantly but not many had ever beaten Cana and Link would not be one of them. Then everything was blank, the flashes of the night he did remember consisted of Airya dancing in the guildhall, an odd floating potion, stars in the night sky and finally a flaming fist.

The thoughts of last night made his head hurt, Link reached into his pouch and pulled out a stamina potion; he knew the potions were for emergencies but by Farore he needed it. It wasn't long before his head had cleared and sound was bearable. Sitting up, he found himself in an empty guild hall in the early hours of the morning. He saw a single person, the white haired woman at the bar was wiping down the surfaces, remembered her as the one who stamped his hand. He walked up to the bar and sat on the stool.

"Good morning Link. Sleep well?"

"I've had worse beds, I slept fine. It's Mirajane right?"

"That's right, call me Mira." She smiled sweetly.

"Nice to meet you Mira. Is the guild always as rowdy as it was yesterday?"

Mira giggled "Yesterday was a special occasion but yes, that's what makes Fairy Tail, Fairy Tail."

"So what kind of magic do you use." Genuinely interested, Link had been introduced to all sorts so far and wanted to find out more. In this time it seemed magic was far more common and was used almost everywhere.

"Well me and my siblings, Elfman and Lisanna, all use takeover magic, we can transform into other beings. Lisanna can turn into various animals, Elfman a beast and I perform demon takeovers."

"Wait demons?" Link remembered Ghirahim and recoiled away from her. "You seem far to nice to be able to transform into one of them."

"Ha, you'd be surprised." Mira said with a sly wink. "Anyway Link, we can't have you sleeping in the guild every night you'll need to organise a home."

At that Link frowned, he thought back to his old home and sighed.

"I would offer you a room in the guy's apartments but it's full."

"I'm sure I'll think of something." Link said pondering. He could probably build his own but he wasn't sure if he would be allowed.

The two continued to chat idly for the remainder of the morning. Link decided to help Mira out with the cleaning and other odd jobs, happy to lend a hand. In that morning alone he fixed a leaky roof, a collection of broken chairs and a Natsu shaped hole in the wall.

"Your quite handy aren't you Link." Mira said with a giggle.

"Well building a few houses does tend to make you better at DIY." Which was true, Groose had taught him rather a lot about DIY when building the first human settlement of Hyrule, the previously pompous man had been surprisingly handy back then.

"Great. You know there's a door out back that doesn't really close properly, would you mind having a look?"

"Um, you know if it's alright I think I'll take a break. Do you know where Erza is?" Link was quite tired still and Mira seemed to be working him like a slave. Mira panicked slightly then suddenly sobbed and turned away.

"Hey Mira what's wrong?" Even though he didn't know what he had done guilt tore at his heart.

"Nothing, nothing, it's just so hard you know. Working a bar almost single handedly, I thought maybe with you around I could get some of the harder jobs done. But it's fine you don't have to continue." Mira sobbed dramatically.

"Hey Mira, I'm sorry I'll get right on it okay." Link had fallen for the ploy hook, line and sinker. Mira turned back. "Oh thank you Link you're so dependable." Mira smiled, her tears had disappeared as if they were never there.

Sighing Link dragged himself off to the back to fix the broken door.

Five splinters later, Link was done. The guild was looking far more lively now, still there seemed to be a few distinct characters missing. Suddenly the door burst open and Erza came running in up to Mira after some rushed words she turned to Link and smiled.

"Ok, Link it's time! You agreed to this. Prepare to fight." Erza challenged bringing her sword out and pointing it at Link.

Instantly every head in the guild turned to face them. When it came to a fight they were like kids in a candy store. Link was slightly shocked he didn't realise she wanted to fight so soon. He was surprised at how eager she was, it did seem a bit rushed.

"Ok then I'm ready when you are." Link replied voice filled with confidence. He wasn't going to lose.

The pair went out to the back of the guild where the training field was. The whole guild had followed not wanting to miss what the new kid could do. Even Laxus and quieter members watched from their corners and perches. Erza thought back to the rest of her team who were all currently occupied and missing out on this. Natsu had complained greatly about missing the fight but Erza forced him to stay, she said it was only to buy them time before Link got suspicious as to why they weren't around.

Erza turned towards her opponent, he was already in battle position with his shield raised and his sword pointing directly at her. She caught his eyes, already they were filled with a fire that instantly made her flinch, this was going to be no walk in the park. A single glance told her all she needed to know, his technique was going to be flawless. Just in the stance he currently held she saw no openings, there was nothing she could exploit. Link did however have a single weakness, one he probably didn't even realise he had. That was how she would win.

Erza requipped into her Heaven's wheel armour summoning two angel blades, she also got into combat position. Macao was to mediate the match, he stood at the edge of the training grounds and silenced the excited crowd.

"The duel between Erza Scarlett and Link will now begin. To win the opposition must be totally subdued or surrender. Begin!"

Erza let her magical energy flood into her blades she was going to start hard and fast. Just as she was ready to attack she saw a green blur run right for her. His blade came down in a vertical strike, Erza just managing to defend the blow crossing her swords in front of her cancelling the magic inside, she was suprised at his speed there was no doubt he was powerful. This is what she had hoped to avoid, as she had predicted the warrior had no openings therefore close combat could put her at a disadvantage. As she pushed him away she yelled.

"Requip flight armour." Her armour vanished replaced by her flight armour, before he could strike again she jumped into the air and requipped into her adamantine armour. Bringing her two newly summoned shields together she plummeted towards Link. Link deftly rolled out of the way and stumbled from the sheer impact of Erza with the ground. This woman wasn't taking any prisoners_._ Turning back to Erza he saw she was back in her Heaven's wheel armour and was charging her swords. This was it, Link could land a hit if he timed this right.

Erza ran towards him and commanded her spell to take shape. "Delta strike." With three lightning fast slashes she attacked Link. Link raised his shield. The magical attack dissipated around him. Erza cursed _his shield blocks magic. _Using his momentary advantage, Link raised his sword and thrust it into the ground sending a shockwave through the Earth that knocked Erza back. Link could feel energy leave his body as he hit the ground realising this was the magic energy that everyone in this world used. Not dwelling on the new sensation he ran forward to meet Erza delivering a sharp horizontal strike that was easily deflected by the requipping mage. Link saw she now wore a predominately pale blue armour. She had requipped into her Lightning Empress armour and was now wielding a long spear. Jumping into the air she pointed the spear at Link. It crackled with electricity building in power. Link only just managed to react on time as the spear blade opened and a bolt of Lightning fell on him. Link had raised his shield to defend the blow, lightning cascaded off the edge of the Hyrulian shield. Link realised if he had been a millisecond slower this match would already be over. Link had to do something.

He thrust his shield to the side dispelling the remaining electricity that crackled around him and stepped to the side anticipating Erza's next attack. Just as predicted Erza came down like a meteor stabbing into the ground where Link was just standing. She turned her head to face Link. A terrifying death death stare met his ferocious unyielding gaze. Before she could get into a position to defend Link managed to kick her away. She landed on her feet with one hand stablizing her as she broke to a halt, her spear held out behind her. Link brought his sword back and braced himself. Erza once again requipped into her flight armour and sped towards Link with two curved daggers. Link had finished preparing his attack and finally let loose. Link spun with all of his might but barely grazed her as she ducked under the spin attack sticking close to the ground. She spun herself and knocked Link off balance by kicking his ankle. When his spin attack stopped she rose up and kicked the warrior to the other end of the field.

Link regained control in the air and managed to land safely, he had to get her in close combat he wasn't going to land a solid hit like this. Closing his eyes he located his well of magic power, he had been looking into the new feeling ever since he arrived in this era. Magic seemed easier to access and more abundant than back in Hyrule and now he had more or less figured out how to use it. Erza sped towards him back in her Heaven's wheel armour. Link opened his eyes and yelled "Farore's Wind!" Air whipped around him and before Erza could react Link had vanished and she sliced through thin air. Erza was surprised at his sudden use of magic but realised that this must be the spell from the volcano. But what did it do? Had it turned him invisible, thrown him into the sky? The whole battlefield was silent but Erza didn't let her guard down. She closed her eyes attempting to sense his presence she followed the winds movements and then she felt it. She span round discarding one of her swords and defended a blow from her behind with both hands. Erza saw Link's shocked face as she cast him back, resummoning her second angel blade she went in for a full frontal assault.

The pair fought in close proximity not yielding any ground to the other as they constantly tried to get the upper hand. The faces of the audience was mostly of pure fear at the sheer power of the two monsters before them. Deathly auras rose from the two combatants their competitiveness willing them not to lose. Then it happened, they both jumped back from one another. Erza shouted "Requip Purgatory Armour!" And light shone around her, Link raised his sword to the sky. Erza appeared wearing huge black chunky armour with an enormous mace like sword that immediately upon summoning began to glow silver. A shining light ran up the length of Link's blade, a skyward strike might be his only chance at matching her magic. Both attacks finished charging and the two warriors sped towards each other the two weapons met in an explosion of power neither warrior backed down spilling all of their magic energy into the attacks. The pair looked into each others eyes to find both pairs of eyes shining in glee. Neither one was going to back down. That was until Link's sword flickered and fell dull, the blade couldn't hold up to this much magic.

Link heard it before Erza, a noise that grated on his ears and filled his body with dread, Link looked to his sword and his fears were realised, running up the blade was a single crack. The sword shattered. Erza was as surprised as Link as she watched the shards of his blade drop to the floor. Erza's sword was released and she hit Link with a devastating blow Link collapsed to his knees holding the hilt of his sword. The dust settled.

Link sat staring at the hilt of his blade totally out of breath from his magic use. This was the first sword he had ever wielded, his knights blade that he had used back in skyloft before the skyward sword. He sighed knowing why it had broke. It simply couldn't compete in this age he could feel it whenever he fought something. This was a plain ordinary blade and as much as he loved it it simply didn't stand a chance against the magical weapons of this world, another thing he realised was his attempt at the Skyward strike had left him totally drained the spell had used almost all of his energy especially as his old blade simply couldn't hold the energy he was providing it he sighed realising his loss. "Hey Erza, I guess this match is over. Congrats."

"No we're not done yet." Erza said smiling "here catch," Erza threw a blade at Link who caught it by the hilt after sheathing what was left of his old sword.

"Are you sure Erza?"

"Of course, I'm not letting you lose just like that, sure it was a good sword but it's never going to work against a magic user. Fact is you are simply unequipped to fight magic users." She said it sympathetically and she meant it. It wasn't his fault. "But don't worry I'll have you trained up in no time. First thing you need to know. That is a basic magic blade it has similar measurements to your sword so it wont have any effect on your swordplay. Now, I realise your magic energy reserves are low but can you feel the way you can transfer energy into your blade?"

Link looked down at the new sword, it was a simple longsword which was exactly the same length as the one that had just broken. It's hilt was a metallic bronze colour resembling the shape of wings, it reminded him slightly of the Skyward Sword when he had first drawn it. Closing his eyes he could feel a distinct difference in the blade it was similar in that respect to the skyward sword in that it felt like a well in his hand ready to be filled up. Link held the sword up into the sky and felt as magic energy flowed into the blade like water into a lake. It was easy and he then knew that this blade would serve him well.

"You can keep that blade, I'm afraid your old one is irreparable."

"Thank you this means a lot." Link said meeting Erza's eyes. She smiled softly "Now let's finish this fight. We're not done yet." Link announced.

Link looked awful he wasn't holding out well but she could see the look in his eyes. She knew he wouldn't take no for an answer.

Link stood up with his new sword and raised his shield. His whole body hurt but his eyes flooded with the fire of determination.

"Ready?" Erza asked

"Ready!" Link replied. The rest of guild were at the edge of their seats eyes glued to the fight. Link gave his new blade a quick twirl and the fight restarted.

This was it, Link and Erza both charged at each other, blades meeting in midair. Erza was fighting with two swords still. The blades clashed in a whirlwind of attacks. Both parties didn't waste an ounce of energy, every swing calculated to perfection in advance. However both combatants still had tricks up their sleeves. Erza was the first to back down, jumping back and holding the blades in front of her, she prepared a spell. A silver magic circle surrounded the hand-guards of the swords and then she charged the blades holding them back, as if she was going to thrust. Link anticipated the spell's effect and took a deep breath. Erza ran forward with great speed in order to strike Link's torso, her blow would have increased strength due to the magic. Link held up the Hylian shield and the attack dissipated around him. He then stepped forward to stab at her but only seemed to graze her side. Before Erza could recover from her attack, Link raised his blade towards the sun.

Chills ran down his spine as he prepared for one of his greatest attacks. A shining orb of light ran towards the hilt of his blade, he knew this attack could never have the strength equal to the skyward sword but it would be enough with the new sword. His sword charged he released the energy in a hugely powerful spin attack. Erza attempted to dodge back but the attack made contact doing severe damage. Link felt happy with his success but decided not to get ahead of himself. both combatants refused to give in and locked blades again. Both were almost totally exhausted of magic energy and battered everywhere. This next attack would finish this.

Erza requiped into her black wing armour and prepared a moonlight strike. Link readied himself for his final attack filling his blade with all the energy he had left. In an explosion of motion the two sped towards each other. Erza released all her energy in two deep slashes of moonlight. Link struck her core with his blade in a long swing. Both attacks hit their marks. Erza and Link had gone straight past each other and stood facing away from each other still in combat positions waiting for the other to fall. Both combatants closed their eyes, they knew what the outcome of this fight was, Link fell to his knees conceding defeat. Erza was simply a much more experienced mage than he was and had a far greater reservoir of energy. But not even a second later, the whole guild gasped in awe as Erza immediately joined him in the dirt, truth was Erza may have been the better mage but Link was a far more experienced swordsman the fight had totally taken it out of her. As it stood the two combatants were perfectly equal and Macao had no choice but to call the match a draw.

(…)

Link and Erza woke up later that evening in the guilds infirmary. Link took out his last bottle of heart potion, wincing in pain from their battle, and drank half, replenishing most of his health. He offered the rest to Erza who smiled and accepted the gift. The pair were rejuvenated but still didn't have the energy to stand.

"So Link, did you find what you were looking for?"

"Possibly." link said deep in thought "Thank you Erza, your help there meant a lot to me."

Erza then gasped as she remembered something.

"Link I have a surprise for you. It'll be finished by now." Erza said hoping Lucy had got the others to complete the project without too much trouble.

"Do you think it can wait, I'm pretty comfortable at the moment."

"I guess we can stay here a little longer." Erza said happy with his answer.

The pair looked at each other and smiled. They stayed in their beds for another hour silently enjoying each others company.


	6. Home

Chapter 6

This chapter really is just a filler so I can get Link to Dins flame, however there is some important information near the end. Have fun reading please review if you have anything to say or any suggestions towards the story they are very welcome and I am intergrating most suggestions into the story where i can. See you next week.

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When Erza removed her hands from Link's eyes he was astonished at what he saw.

"Erza this is fantastic." He gasped

Link looked up at the large tree that was overlooked by Fairy Hills. The tree was just outside the city alongside where the canal channeled out of the city towards the lake. The tree had been successful converted into a beautiful tree house. A wooden ladder led up to a large circular balcony that surrounded and held up the frame of the house, the house was partially carved into the tree and partially built outside it, it was an odd contortion of nature and artifice. There was even a perch for Link's loftwing who had already occupied the space and was dozing in the setting sunlight. A large banner hung from the upper branches messily reading 'Welcome to your new home!'

"It took all day but we did it." Happy cheered

"This is what you guys have been up to all day?" Link inquired finally figuring out why the guild had seemed so quiet today.

Natsu, Gray, Erza, Lucy, Happy, Carla and Wendy all grinned at Link. These were the people who made the most impression on Link on his first day and he was going to be part of their team. He seemed to remember talking about wanting to have a treehouse as a kid at the party but he never realised they would take it seriously. Even so he was incredibly glad they had, the house was incredible.

"We had to come up with someway of welcoming you to our team" Wendy said cheerfully

"and we all chipped in, right Gray." Natsu yelled

"Ha, I don't know what you did, you and Happy slept most of the time."

"I did not, I made the ladder and the... ur… the fireplace"

"What? you mean the accident that just happened to become the fireplace after you burned a hole in the side of the tree." Lucy yelled.

Link was totally speechless. Erza scowled at Natsu before turning to Link

"Link, do you like it?" Erza asked worried.

"Of course I like it Erz it's everything I dreamed of, I love it." He hugged Erza. Lucy and Happy had to stifle a giggle as they looked at Erza mischievously.

"Anyway lets show you the inside." Erza said death glaring Lucy and Happy.

"I've got the booze!" Natsu yelled.

The inside was just as incredible as the outside, the whole oak wood theme made it look quite cosy. The place was already furnished, filled with hand made oak furniture. A large green rug lay on the floor under a low coffee table surrounded by an armchair and a sofa with a suspicious Natsu shaped dent in the cushions. The living room set up lay in front of a stone fireplace which had been made safe with Romeo's special fire control magic so it didn't incinerate the tree. On the other side was a small kitchen area already stocked with food and cooking utensils. In the back corner was a small alchemy station so Link could remake the potions he had used up so far (Luv and Bertie had taught him a few things before he left). A bookshelf lined the back wall with a second ladder in the middle of it. At the top of this was a bed that was the perfect size for Link. There were also multiple hooks for all of his equipment and a place to hang up his sword and shield above his bed.

Natsu bounded in and jumped on to the sofa instantly making himself at home. Everyone else also wandered in to enjoy their handy work.

"Geez, guys I don't know what to say, this is fantastic." Link said shocked.

"Well, we're glad you like it. Now are we getting this house warming party started or what?" Gray said reaching for a bottle of cider.

Everyone made themselves comfortable, It wasn't long before everyone was laughing at Natsu's antics and sharing stories of all the adventures they had been on. Natsu told of his battle with the dragons and how he had befriended his uncle in order to take down the future Rouge after the grand magic games. Link told of his siege of the ancient sandship and how he had defeated the abyssal monster Tentalus, every one seemed to enjoy the story. After Link had learned about everyone, Lucy fell asleep in Natsu's lap for some reason she was purring slightly.

"Well, I'd best get sleeping beauty here home." Natsu announced picking the sleeping Lucy up bridal style.

"Sleeping beauty, eh Natsu. Careful we might get ideas." Gray said

"We already know that he liiiikes her." Happy teased.

"Shud up … Cat." Lucy mumbled in her sleep.

"You heard her Happy let's go. See you later Link!" With that Natsu left the house and jumped off the balcony rather dangerously.

"Are you sure it's ok to leave her with him?" Link asked.

"I'm sure. Lucy is very important to Natsu. He wouldn't ever let any harm come to her." Erza replied. Wendy yawned loudly she hadn't had any thing to drink as she was too young but it was still very late as Carla clearly stated.

"Thanks for having us Link." Wendy yawned as she left Carla following closely behind. Link smiled he liked Wendy and Carla they seemed like nice people he would enjoy working with them.

"All of a sudden the party's cooled down. Ah well, I guess I'll head home too then. See you guys later." Gray said.

"See you tomorrow, Gray." Link reciprocated

Now it was just Link and Erza left. An awkward silence fell over the room.

"Well I better head home too Link." Erza tried to diffuse the tension

"Yeh, you still sore from the fight?"

"Ugh yes, this is going to kill tomorrow."

"Tell me about it. It's going to take me a few days to recover completely."

"Hey Erza, thank you for the past few days, I couldn't have done anything without you."

"It's my pleasure." Erza said with a smile.

Link walked over to one of the wall mounts and took out the broken sword hilt, he placed it on the wall where it sat held up by magic.

"Why are you doing that Link?" Erza asked genuinely confused as to why he would hang up a broken sword.

"I have a lot of fond memories with this sword, it was my very first companion. it just seems a shame to just throw it away so I thought I'd put it up here as a memento of our fight."

"Hey Link. I am sorry it broke."

"Hey Erza don't worry about it, you gave me this one which is fantastic." Link drew his new sword it glowed in the faint light of the room. "I am going to have to work on my magic use though, I cant seem to use any magic without feeling insanely tired after."

"I thought that would be the case, your magic reserves are quite low, you need to treat it like a muscle it will only get stronger with constant use and practice, don't worry with my training We'll sort that out in no time and in return you can show me those sword techniques you've been hiding." Erza seemed to get an evil look in her eye when she said training making Link worry at her methods.

"What do you mean? I haven't been hiding anything."

"Link, honestly I have never seen a swordsman with as much discipline as you the way you hold yourself in combat leaves no openings your swordplay is truly flawless. There is a huge amount you can teach me I know it."

Link scratched his head awkwardly at the compliment. "Thanks I didn't realise I was so good."

Erza laughed "You're too modest. Listen Link, I should head out. I live at the top of the hill next to us, just follow the path uphill if you need anything ok."

"Ok."

"I'll see you later." The two tightly hugged each other and Erza opened the door to leave.

"Oh and Erza."

Erza spun round rather quickly.

"Next time I'll be the one who wins."

"We'll see." Erza laughed as she left the treehouse.

Link sighed these past three days had been long. He removed his hat, freeing his messy hair, and hung it on the wall. He climbed the ladder to his bed and removed his sword and shield hanging it up above his bed. Finally he removed his tunic and chain-mail, he had been wearing them for days and was glad to finally remove them, he dumped them at the end of his bed. From the vantage point of his bed Link could see the whole room, it really was fantastic. _This is what mages can do if they set their minds to it._ Looking down he noticed there was a bag left behind the sofa. "Whose is that?" Link said out loud. He jumped down to investigate, he didn't want to be too nosey but he looked on the inside of the flap and saw Erza's name written scruffily on the inside. Link made a quick decision and decided to take it up to her it would only take a few minutes. Shouldering the bag he left the house and set off up the hill.

Erza was already in her room. She was tired and sweaty from her fight with Link, in fact she was sure she visibly ponged, she had made a quick decision to shower before retiring to bed. She undressed manually and headed into her bathroom. Removing her towel, she stepped into the shower and turned it on. The warm water was fantastically soothing, instantly relaxing her tense muscles. She thought back on the past few days with Link. It was weird she had only met him a few days ago but those days had felt like a lifetime. Everything that had happened before him seemed so distant. She enjoyed his company a lot, admired his courage and determination to grow. Yet she could see he was still slightly broken. Something had happened in his recent past that had made him close up to the world. It didn't matter too much, he's back on the right path and Fairy Tail is the best cure for everything. All of a sudden there was a mighty thump from outside the bathroom, an intruder? Reacting fast she stepped out of the shower wrapped a towel around her and summoned a blade preparing for combat.

Holding her towel up in one hand and her blade in the other she snuck out to investigate. She snuck around in the dark of her room waiting for the intruder to show himself. Her heart pounded in her chest, the silence was deadly. She turned into her bedroom to find a shadowy silhouette against the window ready to jump out of it. She turned the light on and attacked. "Surrender thief." She yelled. With a quick spring she crossed the length of the room grabbed the man and pulled him back to the floor holding the sword to his neck.

At first she didn't recognise him, he wasn't wearing his usual green tunic or hat and was about to brutally interrogate him before she saw his face. "Link?" Link was totally stunned, he had been taken completely by surprise and had found himself under Erza who was pointing a blade at his throat and that wasn't even the worst thing, Erza was totally naked on top of him. She had dropped her towel during her lunge for him. Her body was still covered in beads of water, it was definitely the most erotic thing Link had ever seen. It took all the effort in the world not look at her breasts and even more effort not to get hard from the situation. Link had totally failed at both. The second Erza realised who he was and had released her grip, he bolted out the window to hide his obvious erection and embarrassment.

Erza was totally bemused by his actions and noticed a bag on the bed. I must have left it at his place and he came to return it. Naw, He's pretty sweet... There was no need for him to run away though. We could have chatted for a bit. Erza shrugged and left to finish her shower.

(...)

The next day Link sat in the guildhall with Natsu and Gray still feeling awful after the events of last night. He didn't do it on purpose the front door was locked so he climbed through her window (obviously the room with the fancy armours). He hadn't meant to peep he was just returning the bag, this kinda thing never happened in Skyloft he would always enter rooms without permission and nothing like that had ever happened before. He held his head in his hands and groaned, how could he face her now, she'd kill him, probably incredibly slowly and painfully. She'd know him forever as a pervert. He sank further into the depths of his despair.

"Hey Link, something the matter, you look down?" Gray asked noticing Link's distress.

"What? no I'm totally fine nothing wrong here." Link said failing to hide the lie.

"Ha, it's happened already hasn't it?" Natsu said wisely "it happens to every one."

_really? _Link thought somehow he doubted it.

"You've asked Mira out and she's rejected you. Don't worry happens to everyone who joins the guild. Although I think you're the record holder for speed." Natsu pointed laughed manically before Gray smacked him round the back of the head.

"Natsu, that was just you, you idiot, no one else has ever done that and been rejected and no one is going to forget how she did it either, stop trying to shift your shame onto someone else."

Link was confused "Urm, no it wasn't that." Link said forlornly he didn't have the energy to ask about what ever had happened to natsu and mira at the moment.

"Well then Link, spill the beans." Natsu shouted. "What's happened?"

Feeling slightly pressured Link said "Well I did something I probably shouldn't have done and it could lead to some awful consequences for me."

"Ok keep going?"

Link hesitantly explained the situation to them. When he had finished the story the two looked at each other and laughed.

"Oh my god, you pervert." Natsu yelled far to loud

"It was nice knowing you man." Gray laughed as he patted him on the back.

Link's heart sank he had no idea what he was going to do. Suddenly the door burst open and Erza strode in, she spotted Link, Natsu and Gray and wandered over.

"We had better leave the splash zone." Natsu giggled as they shuffled away.

"Splash zone! Wait, Gray, Natsu don't leave me." Link cried. He turned slowly to face Erza, his face burned with fear and he dropped to his knees.

"I'm sorry Erza I didn't mean to peep, it was an accident I promise, I'll take my punishment, I'm sorry, just please don't kill me," Link pleaded for his life. Erza froze for a second before Natsu and Gray and most of the present guild burst into hysterics.

"Link, what are you talking about. I came here to tell you we have a lead on Din's flame, meet me in the archives downstairs, Natsu you come too." With that she left. Link's heart almost gave way right then. He had not expected that. He turned to Natsu and Gray who were still laughing.

"Wow you are hilarious." Natsu choked

"Erza couldn't care less if you saw her naked, we've all seen it. It just doesn't matter to her, I don't think she'd mind if she came into the guild naked." Gray explained.

Link realised he'd been made a fool of. Gray and Natsu saw his eyes change, he imitated Erza's death stare perfectly and stepped towards them menacingly cracking his knuckles as the mirage of a dark aura rose from behind him. Both men jolted in fear, Gray up'd sticks and bolted out the guildhall, Natsu ran the opposite way down into the cellar hoping for protection from Erza. Link breathed, relaxing before following silently. The rest of the guild all looked rather fearful of the swordsman as well.

Stepping into the large library located below the guild hall. Link spotted and headed towards Erza and Natsu, who was hiding in fear watching the green warrior approach. Link felt a bit guilty and walked up to him and held out his hand.

"It was pretty funny to be fair." he said with a grin.

Natsu looked suspicious and cautiously took the hand, the two guys made up and Natsu grinned again.

"I'll get you back though just you wait." Link warned

Erza was confused but dismissed it as 'guy things'.

Link looked at the people around him as well as Erza and Natsu, Lucy and a cute blue haired girl sat around a small writing desk.

"Link, this is Levy." Lucy introduced the girl beside her.

"It's good to meet you Levy." Link said bowing slightly.

Levy blushed and giggled. "Its nice to meet you too Link."

"Anyway what's all this about a sacred fire, is it tasty." Natsu bawled

"Calm down Natsu, let Levy explain." Erza berated

"Right well I've been looking hard for this since Erza mentioned it yesterday, I had to dive into to some of the oldest books in the archives. However I think I have found what your looking for. It appears the sacred flame can be found in the death place of the first great fire dragon."

Almost inaudibly Natsu whispered "Igneel"


	7. Castelia

Chapter 7

This is the start of the second section of the story. There are no fights quite yet but i'm setting up for some. This section also goes into quite a bit of detail on the age of dragons. I'm hoping that i managed to explain all in a way you guys understand. It should be noted that in the age of dragons all the lore from fairy tail still applies so Zeref still cursed acnologia and dragon slayer magic was created to combat the dragons. I have just added a bit of back story.

please review (it really does help me know what to do with the story), follow and favourite and enjoy the next chapter.

* * *

Levy frowned "Unfortunately Natsu, not Igneel. But it could be a good lead. The dragon in question is Igneel's earliest ancestor. Igneel was not the first fire dragon."

"But he was the strongest." Natsu defended "he wouldn't die so easy."

"The other issue is it only says sacred flame it may not be the flame you're looking for." Levy continued.

"Yes, but it's the best lead we've got." Erza replied.

"So where can we find this dragon?" Natsu asked he looked far too serious.

"The answer is in a book called 'the Apocrypha of Dragons'. It is a very rare book that is said to detail the beginning of the dragon era. This is the only copy we have ever seen." Lucy said

"It essentially says that the age of dragons started in a huge war between the forces of evil and good. Eventually the good were overwhelmed and evil took over. In one last stand the guardian dragons were called in and fought the evil but many dragons died including the original fire dragon. The whole world was then cleansed by the remaining enraged dragons who were grieving at thier losses causing the evil forces to fade into the darkness, humanity clung on by a thread. Eventually the world was healed and the age of dragons came to an end creating this age. In the book it has recorded all known dragons and guardian dragons. It says the first fire dragon died in the capital of the old world. I'm not certain but I believe it is referring to a city called Castelia."

"So that's where we're headed?" Natsu asked. Link looked slightly shocked, _the old world, does she mean Hyrule? _Link shook his head and rejoined the conversation.

"It seems that way. Come on then, Castelia is two weeks east by carriage." Erza stated

"aww, do we have to go by carriage." Natsu complained.

"Actually, no we don't." Link announced.

(...)

"Wooo, this is awesome Link!" Natsu yelled, his travel sickness not taking effect. Link, Erza, Natsu and Lucy were all soaring above the clouds on the back of Link's loftwing Airya. Airya squawked loudly as she went in for a dive. Happy was flying along side the bird cartwheeling and performing his own little air stunts. Link smiled, this would significantly reduce the time it would take to get to Castelia. Looking at the maps, it was in the east and would only take a single days flight even with all the passengers. Whilst preparing for the adventure, Link had taken the liberty of using the guild archives, he needed to find more detail on the events that had transpired in Castelia. He was worried for the fire dragon Eldin, who had helped him many years in the past. Eldin was immortal but that did not mean he was invincible, if he was the original fire dragon that meant he was truly dead along with the kingdom he had helped to create. It seemed rather obscure that Link had only seen the very beginnings of the kingdom of Hyrule and now was going to visit it's ruins. That is if this was the capital of Hyrule.

It was getting close to dusk as they were approaching Castelia. Link looked down to see the blackened and charred landscape. The age of dragons was over 400 years ago and still the land here had not recovered. Ahead of them the city came into view. It was obviously once a sprawling metropolis filled with fancy stone buildings and walls. The castle for which Castelia was named stood behind the town. Still reaching into the heavens but now a smouldering ruin. Airya set down at the main gate. Everyone dismounted.

"You did good girl, get a good rest." Link said patting his companion. She was not used to carrying four people and it had taken it's toll. Link turned to face the front entrance. As he had suspected over the gate lay the insignia of Hyrule, a loftwing underneath a triforce. Links suspicions had been confirmed. This is what remained of the capital city of Hyrule.

Lucy looked extremely nervous, even Natsu seemed on edge. This place was dangerous, the air felt tense and empty. Link strode forward leading the group silently and they entered the city. The wind howled through the empty streets, remnants of old carts and market stalls lined the streets, torn, battered and burned. The houses were crumbling, all the stonework was cracked and any embellishments had totally eroded away. Occasionally they would come across buildings that seemed to have been melted into a lump, _could dragon fire be strong enough to melt stone like this? _Link thought The whole group was incredibly wary, Lucy kept her fingers on her keys, Link and Erza were twitching preparing for any attack, Natsu gazed in fear at what dragons could do. He had heard tales but seeing their destruction truthfully terrified him, especially after the events at the grand magic games.

After half an hour the group reached the centre of the town, a low fountain was in the centre totally dried up and the statue that once resided their had crumbled completely.

"Can Din's fire really be hidden here?" Erza asked.

"I'm sure of it, this city is what is left of the capital of the kingdom I created three thousand years ago. And who better to guard Din's fire than a fire dragon." Link replied

Natsu and Lucy looked confused. "Wait Link your three thousand years old?" Lucy asked.

"Ha that makes you even older than gramps."

"No I'm nineteen, two years older than you. Idiot." Link defended

"Sure sure, gramps, just make sure you don't hold us up old timer." Natsu joked

Erza stood on a rock commanding the attention of her team. "Right we need to start searching, I suggest we split up into pairs, Natsu, Lucy, Happy, you search the city."

"Aye sir."

"Me and Link will head to the castle, if there is an issue send Happy to find us. We will meet back here in two hours okay." Erza instructed.

"Right." The others said.

Lucy, Natsu and Happy set off down the main street. The sky was turning black, the clouds were lined with a disgusting blood red colour. The whole place was pretty creepy.

"Where do we even start to look for a dragon skeleton." Lucy asked

"Well Natsu's massive nose could probably find it." Happy teased.

"Hey Happy, that's a great idea, I'll start sniffing." Natsu announced oblivious to Happy's comment. Natsu took a great whiff of air and started sprinting away in the direction his nose pointed. Happy and Lucy struggled to keep up as they meandered through the streets and alleys. Turning a final corner into a small alleyway, they saw Natsu had his back to them. He suddenly turned around and presented a sandwich, holding it up like a trophy.

"Hell yes, I was just getting hungry." Natsu gobbled up the sandwich without a second thought. "Wait Natsu how long do you think that's been their? That's disgusting."

"I dunno but it tasted great so it cant have been that long."

"That's what I was afraid of." Lucy sighed.

Suddenly there was a scampering noise from the end off the alley.

"Natsu what was that." Lucy asked backing up to him.

"You know, it was probably a great big, spider." Happy whispered in Lucy's ear.

"Not funny cat." Lucy threatened. Happy giggled.

The scampering got closer and louder, it seemed their was more than one. Lucy got more and more freaked out, Natsu set his hand on fire preparing for an ambush. Then suddenly in one huge wave an army of huge grey rats flooded the alley, "RATS." Lucy screamed and jumped into Natsu's arms.

"Well at least their not spiders." Happy teased.

The rats crept forward cornering Lucy and Natsu, Natsu couldn't do anything because Lucy was in his arms.

Suddenly the rats split down the middle, creating a parade. An old balding rat paraded down the centre of the rat corridor. Stopping just in front of the trio of wizards. The rat stood up on its hind legs and cleared it's throat. In a rather regal voice the rat spoke.

"Are you by any chance wizards?"

"Natsu did that rat just talk?" Lucy whispered.

"I think so, should we answer it?" Natsu replied also whispering. Talking rats were a new one on him.

"Go on then, say something." Lucy replied still in a hushed tone. The rat was getting impatient.

"Yes we are mages of Fairy Tail." Natsu said.

"Ah really, that is most fortunate, we watched your final match in the grand magic games it was truly something to behold."

"Ah thanks man, hey, your not so bad!" Natsu dropped Lucy and bent down and held out his hand. "The names Natsu, it's always good to meet a fan."

"Yes quite, I am lord Harkon Lovelace. Mayor of this town." Shaking his hand with a small paw.

"It's not much of a town really." Happy stated rudely.

"Yes but we were going to rebuild it but we ran into some… Interference."

"What do you mean?" Natsu questioned.

"Well when we arrived here to settle, we didn't know about the dark mage who lives in the castle. For intruding on his land he cursed us and now we are all rats. We put up a good fight but that mage is incredibly powerful he told us that the next person to enter his castle would perish by fire."

"Wait what, that's where Erza and Link went." Lucy panicked

"We gotta go warn them." Natsu stated.

"I'm afraid I cant let you do that, you are mages you can lift this curse for us." Harkon said.

"we'll give it a go but we can't turn you back ourselves." Lucy told him.

"Hm, that's where your wrong, guards seize them!" Harkon ordered.

Natsu and Lucy were instantly swarmed by rats, they were tied up carried off before either of them could even react.

"Happy go warn Erza and Link. Tell them we'll be fine." Natsu yelled struggling against his bonds.

"Aye sir" happy yelled as he flew off avoiding the rats that sprang up to catch him.

"After that cat." Harkon screamed. A detachment of rats ran off to follow the flying cat.


	8. Hyrule Castle

Chapter 8 - Hyrule Castle

Hey guys. Here's chapter 8. I loved writing this chapter it has a fun little fight scene and lot's of Erlink so it should be fun. Just to help your imagination, i wrote this chapter with the Hyrule Castle from Twilight Princess in mind. In my opinion it is by far the best version in the franchise. Hope you enjoy it!

* * *

Link and Erza had just crossed a large stone bridge in between the city and the castle. The moat that had been once run under the bridge had totally dried up leaving it totally lifeless. The doors ahead were huge it took quite a bit of effort to open them, but once inside the doors closed on their own with a loud crash. The pair appeared to be in a large courtyard garden area, ahead was a dried up fountain with a triforce statue partially ruined in the centre. The lawns of the garden were totally black and strange weeds grew with large red thorns and eerie purple roses. These odd flowers had taken over the charred hedgerows as well. The sky was still black and the clouds were full of malice and threatened to unleash a downpour at any moment.

The castle itself was a large tiered structure getting smaller the further up you went, the whole thing was supported by huge struts from the towers that lined the walls, it would have been rather magnificent in it's day, but the pair could see the large holes and ruined sections of the castle caused by dragon fire and siege machines.

Link and Erza were totally silent as they stepped towards the ruined castle. Both were ready to strike at a moments notice. Erza approached the large oak door and tried to push it open, it wouldn't budge.

"Step back." Link told her. Erza stepped to the side as Link brought out an odd blue fruit with a white flower on top, throwing the fruit at the door the flower seemed to ignite and the blue fruit slowly turned red.

"Cover your ears." Link warned.

After a second there was a large bang and a strong shockwave. The door had been totally blown off it's hinges.

"Well that's one way of doing it." Erza stated, Link really was full of surprises, she wondered what other things could be kept in his little pouch. Link grinned at her and headed into the castle.

The inside of the castle was just as ruined as the outside but from what was left you could still see the intricacies of the main hall they had entered. It was a large circular room created to receive people when a ruler held court. Balconies jutted out at various points held up with thin stone pillars. A room that was once decorated to fit a king was now ornately embellished by the skeletons of the fallen warriors of Hyrule. The halls covered in age old blood and ash.

All of a sudden the braziers lining the walls lit, illuminating the room in an deep orange light. There was a deep booming cackle coming from the high ceiling.

"All who enter the castle will perish in fire." It simply said in a deep, cruel tone. Two red flames flew down from the staircase at the opposite end of the room in a flash they transformed. In their place stood two black bodies of armour reaching 10 feet tall and baring round shields. The bodies reached behind their backs for large black blades that were looked like long cruel carving knives. The swords caught fire, Link could feel the heat of them from where he was standing.

"Darknuts" Link said under his breath. He drew his sword and prepared for combat. Erza did the same requiping into her flame empress armour so the flaming blades would have less of an effect. It was times like this she wished Natsu were here.

Both pairs charged and began combat. The Darknut's movements were slow and heavy, however one blow could easily rip them in half. Fortunately the attacks were reasonably easy to dodge. Erza had just ducked under a blade and slid through the Darknut's legs trying to land a blow on his back but it was just as heavily guarded as the front and her blade just bounced of the armour. The phantom spun round and thrusted towards Erza. Erza dodged back and the darknut's blade wedged itself the ground. Erza set her blade on fire and ran up the back of the blade and up the darknut's arm and stabbed into the hemet of the darknut where eerie red eyes peered out of a shadowed face. Her blade struck the back of the helmet and the darknut's body seemed to have turned ethereal so the blade had no effect. Erza sliced her blade upwards ripping the helmet off the darknut causing it's head to solidify. It was vile, it's face looked grotesquely burned and mangled, it's red eyes glowed with cold fury. Erza had run out of time and jumped off the phantom performing a backward somersault and landing back in combat position. Link had seen what she had done and found the weak points in the armour. Running forward and ducking under a horizontal slash be slashed at the leather binding the greaves causing them to fall off the Darknut's legs. He then jumped up the back of the darknut and ripped off it's helmet. Erza was also doing the same thing she had removed the greaves and the shield. Link jumped over dealing another swipe and sliced at the bindings of the cuirass revealing a heavily bandaged and burned body. Link's darknut screeched and threw his sword at Link, it lodged itself in the wall behind him, Link had just managed to stumble out the way but was caught off guard by the shield throw which struck him in the stomach knocking him back into the wall, winding him severely and causing him to drop his sword.

Erza yelled and attacked her own darknut also ripping of the cuirass. The second darknut performed the same move as the first throwing his sword. Erza dodged as she knew what was coming, she jumped on the sword used it to launch herself towards her foe. She sliced at the body of the Darknut which actually sunk into flesh unlike before, the armour seemed to be what was destabilising the body. The Darknut did not bellow in pain as expected it just turned around to face her not seeming to notice the large slice in it's side. Erza backed towards Link kicking his sword towards him. He was on all fours coughing heavily, trying to recover from the attack. The two Darknuts drew long rapiers which also set ablaze and lunged at Erza, their speed had increased massively. Erza blocked and parried the two blades but struggled to keep up with the faster movements of both enemies. Link forced himself to get up and took out his clawshot, still in pain. He shot it out behind the Darknuts up into one of the balconies brazier, which made him fly straight past the dark soldiers. Spinning round he used the second clawshot to change his direction striking the flesh of one of the Darknuts and pulling him towards it. He drew his blade and stabbed the Darknut in the back of the neck. The Darknut didn't falter and reached back to grab Link. Link slashed at the approaching arm jumping out behind the Darknut. The Darknut's arm shrivelled into nothing and burst. Erza now only had to deal with a single enemy and began to cope a lot better. She ducked under a lightning fast slash and attacked his legs severing them from the body. The creature fell and she stepped out the way beheading him as he came down. It wasn't long before Link's Darknut had fallen as well, it's head rolling across the floor before exploding like the rest of it's body.

Link fell onto one knee still In pain from the shield that hit him. Erza ran to his side.

"Do you have any more health potions?" She asked worried.

"Relax, I'll be fine I've dealt with worse, besides I didn't have much time to make any potions before we left."

"Well take it easy for a bit, I've got point." Erza said hoisting Link up.

Link and Erza climbed the steps ahead of them, there was someone up at the top of the castle who was controlling the Darknuts, he had to be stopped. There were two flights of stairs to the left and right of them, both were utterly ruined.

"Any ideas?" Erza asked.

Link once again brought out his clawshots. "We could try to use these on the torches but we only have one each." Link suggested. Erza chuckled.

"Requip flight armour." Erza shouted. Magic filled the room and her flame empress armour was replaced by the equally skimpy leopard print armour that increased her speed. Link blushed as he saw the new armour.

"Are you alright Link? Do you need a break?" Erza wondered

"I'm fine," Link said shaking his head "Hey Erza, the cat ears are cute" Link said teasing. Erza blushed just as much as he did and punched him in the arm.

"shut up." She said avoiding Link's eyes.

With that she began to sprint ahead jumping between the walls and on the patches of ruined stairs. Link watched in amazement and chuckled, she really was incredible. He prepared his clawshots and followed her at a far slower pace.

At the top of the staircase was a long corridor, ripped and ruined paintings lined the walls and the carpet was blackened or totally burnt away. A large hole gaped in the side of the wall, the stone work around the hole had melted back and was still hot after all these years.

"Dragon fire." Link stated

The hole had burned right into the main chamber they had just been in. Erza and Link continued down the corridor and reached a large door to an outside balcony. They were now just above the main entrance. Looking up they had barely scaled half the castle.

"You wanna take a short cut?" Erza asked

"If it makes this easier." Link didn't quite know what she meant.

"Alright then, ready." Erza walked up to Link and picked him up bridal style.

"Wait, Erza what are you doing?" Link protested. Embarrassed she could pick him up so easily. And still very conscious about her 'light' clothing.

"You said you wanted a short cut. Hold on tight." Erza chuckled. She leapt up high, earning a wail from Link as he latched on to her neck tightly. She landed on one of the turret struts and ran up the steepening slope. When it got too steep the jumped onto a second higher balcony and made one final vertical leap up to the third tier of the castle coming to an abrupt halt at almost the very top of the castle. Link's heart felt like it was going to explode out of his chest.

"You can let go now Link." Erza said.

Link realised he was still attached to her and let go causing him to fall flat on his butt.

Erza laughed "For a hero of legend you scream pretty loud."

"Well it's not everyday I get thrown up the side of a castle by a woman in leopard print underwear." Link defended

"It's not underwear it's…"

"I know. I know. It's armour, fine."

"Still, even if you think it's underwear you were clinging on pretty tight. Don't enjoy yourself too much Mr. Hero." Erza taunted. She was immediately confused by the words that came out of her mouth, she would never normally say this things like this, it was rather odd but she felt awfully comfortable around Link, it just felt natural.

Link had run out of comebacks, he sighed and surrendered.

The pair looked ahead. They had reached the top of the keep. A small building was ahead of them it looked far more embellished than the rest of the castle did. Despite the huge hole in the roof, the scorch marks and the melted roof-tiles. Erza and Link walked up the stairs leading to the large oak door ahead. They looked at each other and nodded. A roll of thunder could be heard as the pair drew their blades and opened the door.

The room was quite empty. Pillars held up the roof and stained glass filled most of the windows. Braziers shone on the pillars with a deep red flame. The thing that stood out the most was the throne at the end of the chamber. It was a simple stone chair inset into the floor around it was a whole bunch of broken statues. But above it was the huge skeleton of the great fire dragon Eldin, a huge sword pierced the crown of his skull. Link's eyes filled with rage seeing the skeleton of his old friend and turned to face the man sat on the throne.

He was sat in an incredibly lax position, with a sadistic sneer on his face. He was wearing red and black armour (similar to Erza's flame empress armour but heavier) along with a silver helmet in the shape of a dragons head. His hand, Link noticed, had regressed into crimson scaled claws.

"So you finally arrived. I was told you'd come. You're here to acquire Din's flame. Yes my master has told me all about you Hero. I'm afraid I cannot let you continue your quest I will have to…"

"Erza, Link!" Happy catapulted through the window, crash landing and rolling towards Link's feet. Happy flew up to Link's eye level. "You've got to hurry Natsu and Lucy have been captured by giant rats and I think their going to kill them."

The man was enraged at the rude interruption but cackled evilly.

"Hahaha, so those maggots were worth cursing after all, yes you're friends will die, rather slowly I'm afraid you see I told the pests that the only way to free them from the curse was too eat a mage alive."

"You bastard, what the hell." Erza yelled

"Well, you could save them, but it seems you're a bit preoccupied." The man stood up and clicked his fingers closing the doors behind them. He drew a two handed red claymore. "I saw how you coped with my Darknuts, quite impressive, but this is where your winning streak ends. I, Volga, shall see to it personally."


	9. Volga

Chapter 9 - Volga

Hey guys, here it is chapter 9. This will be the last section of Din's flame which means final boss battle woo. I know Volga is an OC from Hyrule warriors but he really was the perfect boss for this section. He fits a fire dragon slayer perfectly.

i have recently discovered that italics don't copy over from word when I create a new document. This means that in chapters prior to this one there may be sections that are meant to be in italics signifying thoughts that aren't. I will try and rectify what i can and will make sure this is corrected in new chapters.

Please review it really helps me decide where I want the story to go based on what you want and I would love to give a huge thanks to the people who are following and favouriting the story. Hope you enjoy it.

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Volga lunged towards them crossing the length of the room in less than a second. He slashed at both Link then Erza earning a direct hit on both warriors knocking them back. Erza summoned her Heavens Wheel armour and two angel blades. Link and Erza ran in to attack from both sides of the enemy in a pincer movement. Volga raised his blade and pointed it towards the ground. As he pierced the stone floor a shockwave of fire erupted from his blade knocking Link and Erza back again. Link had raised his shield to defend against the magic and was the first to recover and strike back. He ran through the flames that now covered the floor and thrust his blade towards Volga's chest. Volga deflected the blade to the side but Link was expecting this and used the new momentum to arc his blade into a downward strike. Metal struck metal and Link stumbled back from the impact he saw Volga's sneer as he horizontally slashed at Link.

Erza had recovered at this point and defended the blow before it could hit Link. All three swordsmen were in close proximity, Link and Erza began an upfront assault on the dragon knight. Despite having a rather hefty blade, Volga managed to keep up with them. Erza jumped back preparing a delta strike. Link kept Volga distracted. After she had finished charging the attack she let loose. Volga reared his head back and yelled "Fire Dragon's Roar!" Intense flames flew from his mouth striking Erza before she could get close to her opponent.

_He's a dragon slayer_ Erza realised. Volga turned his head towards Link to get him too but heard "Farore's wind." Link had vanished. He then heard a loud yell from the ceiling as Link reappeared and dropped down on Volga in a savage spin attack. The attack made contact with Volga's silver helm and shattered the left half. Erza took her opportunity and went in to stab Volga. Volga managed to defend, just, and retreated back to the throne.

The dragon slayer cackled as Link cursed, in his retreat Volga had managed to get a cheap shot on Link. This guy was strong how the hell did he manage to take them both on without a scratch.

"I have played long enough. Witness the power that has slain dragons. Dragon Force." Volga roared as an inferno engulfed him it rose up and took the shape of dragon. The roof was ripped of the building causing roof tiles to rain down and get incinerated in the maelstrom. The scene was enough to intimidate any person but Link and Erza, battered and bruised, stood fast. Volga stepped out of the flames surrounded by a cloak fire which rose from his back forming dragon wings. Beating his wings a huge gust of burning wind drove heat towards Link and Erza knocking them to the floor.

Erza tried to get up but her legs had just stopped listening, this fight had gotten intense. She looked over to Link, his eyes were full of rage. Through pure willpower he managed to pick himself up he prepared his sword and charged. Volga sent forth long tendrils of fire tipped with dragon talons to strike Link but the hero managed to dodge them or block them with his shield. When he got close enough to Volga he jumped at him delivering a downwards blow. Volga blocked the attack and went in for in a horizontal attack. Link used Farore's wind to avoid the attack reappearing behind Volga. Volga defended again. The cycle went on as they attacked as defended from each other inside the maelstrom of fire. Link was incredibly grateful for the goddesses fire-shield earrings they had allowed him to cope with the flames, now he had to finish this. The fight was incredibly close but eventually Volga found an opening he punched him viciously with a flaming fist and cast Link to the side. Link flew straight through a pillar, hit the side wall and collapsed into a messy heap out cold.

"Link!" Erza yelled. She forced herself to her feet "Heavens wheel!". A circle of blades danced in front of her. She cast them forward following closely behind, she could feel he magic energy running low, drained by Volga's flames, but that didn't matter she was going to get this done. Her blades flew towards the dragon slayer a few were knocked away by his flaming arms and one or two he had to block himself but one got through and struck his left arm. Erza charged into the flames preparing her pentagram attack. Volga was enraged and bellowed he cast his flames in Erza's direction totally engulfing her. The heat was unbearable and was sapping every last bit of strength, she looked over to the fallen form of Link attempting to give herself the will to keep fighting for him but the moment she was released from the flames, she received a vicious punch knocking her down. She tried to stand up but Volga kicked Erza onto her back and picked her up by her hair. Volga had won.

"You put up a good fight girly but this is where it ends. All who enter this castle will perish in fire." With this he raised his sword and brought it down on her. Erza struggled but simply couldn't escape his grasp. She closed her eyes preparing for the pain to come.

she heard a second roar. She opened her eyes to see a flaming fist make contact with Volga's face. Volga dropped Erza and flew towards the throne. Above Erza stood a salmon haired boy silhouetted against Volga's inferno. Natsu looked back and grinned at the fallen Erza, relief overtook her and her body fell unconscious. Natsu sucked in the flames of the other dragon slayer plunging the room into darkness. Volga looked at his new foe his face screwed up in rage. Lightning flashed behind Natsu momentarily lighting up his face, the heavens opened and rain cascaded through the collapsed roof.

(A little earlier)

Natsu and Lucy groaned as their backs dragged along the floor. Once the rats had overwhelmed them they were tied to long poles by their hands and feet and dangled underneath. Despite the rats large size they didn't quite make it over two foot tall so the mages backs were receiving a rather rough treatment from the ground.

"Hey Lucy, guess what apparently where we're going there's going to be a huge feast. It sounds awesome."

"You realise the main course it us you idiot."

"nah that can't be right. Who would want to eat you? You taste disgusting."

"What about you you probably taste like your barbecue chicken."

"Totally blackened, just how I like it." Natsu began to drool

"No one likes it like that flame brain, the amount of guild barbecues you've ruined is unbelievable."

"What? They're great fun. I don't see why your being such a party pooper Lucy."

"Just shut up natsu!"

Much to the relief of the guard rats there was a moments silence until.

"Hey Lucy," Natsu said mischievously "I can see you're panties from here."

"What!? stop looking you pervert." Lucy started wriggling around to try and hide herself it didn't exactly help."

"Hahaha, you totally fell for it! I cant really see your panties, but I can imagine."

"What the hell Natsu! stop thinking about it."

"Are all girl's underwear this dirty?" Natsu asked.

"Shut up you! I swear when we get out of here I'm gonna kill you myself."

The argument continued.

"Argh I cant take any more of this." One rat spoke up

"I agree. Cant we just dump them."

"My ears are burning."

"Don't we have any gags?"

"They don't even look that tasty."

"And besides they'd still be arguing in our bellies, and the girl looks kinda toxic."

"Hey! I heard that rat!"

"We're here!" Harkon, lord of the rats, announced. Lucy and Natsu looked around. They were in some central plaza thousands of rats swarmed the area. In the centre of the plaza was a large post that Natsu and Lucy were quickly tied to. Lucy was panicking slightly at her imminent death and began to hold Natsu's hand at least it would give her some comfort. "Natsu we do have a way out of this don't we? You have a plan right?" Lucy turned round to the view of an enormous sleep bubble erupting from Natsu's nose. Fantastic! Lucy thought. On a small stone stage in front of them a small group of rats stood, Lord Harkon was among them. A huge rat the likes of which had never been seen approached the stage. This rat was about the size of a mastiff if not a bit bigger it had brown hair and wore a cloak of black vines with red thorns poking out in places. The rat stood on it's hind legs and in a surprisingly feminine voice called over the crowd.

"Ladies, gentlemen and children today we celebrate the rebirth of our town. We shall lift this foul curse once and for all. Welcome to the Feast of Fairies."

Lucy was reaching frantically for her keys but they were just out of reach. She shuffled around in an attempt to move them closer to her hand to no avail. By now the rat in the cloak had finished her speech and the rats were closing in on the two mages a hungry look was in their eyes. Lucy began to struggle with her bonds what could she do? Suddenly she had an idea an evil smile crept across her face. Before any of the rats got near her she grabbed Natsu's sides and began to tickle immediately earning an instant response. The torture of being tickled and the shock of waking up caused poor Natsu to erupt. Flames spouted out of Natsu's mouth and his hands flickered with fire as he flailed in his bonds for freedom. Lucy grinned telling Lucy he was ticklish was Natsu's biggest mistake. Lucy's plan worked, Natsu burned through the bonds with ease and Lucy got free. Rats began to scatter at the terrifying sight. As Natsu recovered Lucy pulled out her keys. By now every rat had left bar Harkon and the shaman.

"You will not deny us our freedom." the shaman yelled. She brought a wand out of her robes, pointing at lucy.

"Sorry but I'm not going to make it that easy. Open gate of the Lion. Leo!" Golden light was cast around the plaza as Leo appeared out of thin air.

"It's been a while Lucy, and might I say your looking incredible today. What happened to Natsu?" Leo looked over to the crumpled lump in the middle of the plaza.

"He'll be okay, Leo I need you to take care of her." Lucy ordered pointing at the approaching skeletons.

"My pleasure." Leo's hands glowed with a golden Light. "Regulus impact." Leo ran towards the giant rat his fist lit up. The rat swung her wand firing a small red beam at leo. Leo jumped over the shot and descended on the rat. The rat sidestepped far to quickly for something her size before headbutting the lion knocking him right back to lucy.

"Hmm, this one ain't bad." Leo complimented, "i'm gonna have to work harder to impress Lucy,"

"Humph as if." The rat said a red light forming at the end of her wand.

Before they could collide again, a blue cat soared past. "Luuuucccyyyyy!" He yelled. The combat was immediately interrupted as everyone watched the blue cat crash into Lucy knocking her down. "Link and Erza… Fighting dragon guy in the castle… He looked really tough." Happy gasped for air.

"You're friends are fighting Volga? Are they fools?" The shaman asked shocked.

"So who's Volga?" Lucy asked confused.

"He's a dragon slayer who lives in the castle, he is why this land is still barren and why we are cursed."

Natsu immediately perked up "Dragon slayer in the castle?"

"You … Gotta… Help them." Happy collapsed on top of Lucy.

"Lucy, look after Happy, I'll head up there and help out." Natsu quickly said before setting his hands and feet alight and blasting himself into the sky creating an arc of fire towards the castle.

"Eh… He left me behind." Lucy yelled angrily. "Wait, is that why you want to eat us, to cure the curse?" She asked.

"Well yes. That's how to cure the curse right?"

"Well that doesn't seem right. We can try this instead. Leo, Thanks for your help but I think were done here."

"Until next time." Leo vanished. The shaman put her wand away as well.

"Open gate of the Lyre. Lyra!" Lyra appeared.

"Yay do you need me for a performance Lucy. Wait, your not singing are you?" The joyful bard asked worriedly

"What do you mean by that? I'm not that bad." Lyra looked uncomfortable unable to tell the lie or the truth. "Anyway I need you to play the anti-curse song you learned."

"Right!" Lyra began to pluck her heart in an incredibly jovial tune. Her harp began to glow as magic imbued itself in it. The musical magic quickly reached out to the shaman swirling around her. By the time the song had finished the rat had disappeared and had changed into a huge middle aged woman. She suddenly broke down crying flooding the plaza as she looked at her hands. "Thank you." Was all she could say.

"Job done!" Lucy announced. She turned around to find the army of rats.

"I don't think we're done quite yet." Lyra joked.

Lucy sighed and looked up to the castle. Lighting flashed over the menacing structure. She placed a hand over her heart, wishing for her friends safety.

(Back at the castle)

Rain cascaded through the broken roof as the two fire mages faced each other.

"A fire dragon slayer huh? Well now I've got a fire in my belly!" Natsu challenged.

"You've got some nerve kid, this fight was over."

"It's not if I'm still standing."

Volga smirked. Natsu could see he had been battered from his previous fight but he couldn't let his guard down, also neither mages could use their magic for prolonged amounts of time punches would be fine but roars were off limits as the other could just use the flames as sustenance. He looked down at Erza, she was down for the count, Link was trying to stand. This guy meant business if he could take down both of them. Volga raised his blade and charged. Natsu was ready he had learned a move from Gildarts for disarming people, he had intended to save it for his fight with Erza but this was more important. Volga swung horizontally Natsu dodged by moving towards Volga grabbing his right elbow and wrist and throwing Volga over his shoulder with all the force he could muster. The manoeuvre went perfectly and Volga ended up winded on the floor. Natsu attempted to take the blade from Volga but Volga grabbed his ankle with the opposite hand. Natsu punched Volga in the chest denting the breastplate and causing Volga to cough. Natsu got himself over the other side of the dragon knight. Before Volga could do anything else Natsu kicked the blade out of his hand towards the door then jumped back to avoid any attempt to reverse the positions.

Volga got up, his eyes were burning with a fiery rage but it could never match Natsu's. Natsu went in for the attack and they fought with flaming fists every hit landed. Natsu eventually forced an opening with an uppercut to the stomach. Volga choked, he was being made a fool of by a boy. In a rage he countered and clawed Natsu's chest following with a harsh kick Natsu was sent back towards the door. Before he could counter Volga placed his foot over the barely conscious Erza's head threatening to crush it. "Don't you move or the girl gets it." Natsu's face screwed up in rage he stood down.

"That's a cheap trick you bastard, why not fight me like a man." Natsu yelled. Volga laughed evilly and began to push down on Erza's head. a swish of wind surrounded the room and Erza's body disappeared from the floor. Link appeared next to Natsu carrying her limp body. Link's whole body radiated with an intense aura matching if not drowning out Natsu's. "You just made your biggest mistake." Link threatened. "You ready Natsu?"

"Let's do this." Link and Natsu started walking towards Volga menacingly. All of a sudden Link sprung into action slicing horizontally across Volga's chest. "That's for Eldin." Link fell back and Natsu took over dealing a fire dragon iron fist to Volga's face. "That's for Lucy." Link ran forward and sliced upwards diagonally. "For Erza." Natsu joined Link as they attacked together. Fire consumed the two mages but both were unaffected, they were the flames of rage. Link flew into a full on spin attack and Natsu jumped over him yelled "Dragon slayer secret art, fire dragons exploding fist." And let loose a barrage of punches.

Volga flew into the throne the impact almost killing him. Natsu's stood ahead of the fallen man, his eyes shadowed under his hair, Link put his hand on his shoulder hooding him back. Link stepped towards the throne, A battered Volga stood up to face him.

"I've failed my master, they were too much." He gasped "but I'm not finished yet." Volga drew an odd black knife and stabbed forward laxly. Link knocked the blade out of his hand with ease and slugged Volga in the jaw knocking him out for good. Link looked back to Natsu who nodded in approval. Erza got up next to Natsu totally dazed as to what had happened. The rain stopped. Above Link the dragon skeleton began to glow and a small red pixie floated down from the once great beast.

"By now I'm sure you've figured out who I am hero, but out of courtesy I shall introduce my self. I am Eldin, once the great fire dragon who helped you on your adventure, now the guardian pixie of Din's flame." The pixie spoke.

Link nodded in understanding. Natsu was rather confused as to how a dragon had become a tiny flying orb.

"Son of Igneel, I understand your confusion however do not worry I have always known it would happen this way, a certain hero told me," Eldin said looking at Link. Now it was Links turn to look confused. "Dragons are immortal but not invincible, I was defeated by Volga in this very room, I accepted my fate, I was getting rather old, five thousand years will do that to you. But the gods gave me and the other guardian dragons a second mission, to guard the sacred keys until the Hero of the Sky returned."

A pedestal rose from the floor, a large ruby was inset in the centre.

"Link claim what's yours." The pixie finished.

Link walked over to the pedestal and held his hand in ahead, just like before a red aura trailed up his arm, his triforce glowed lighting the room like a sunrise. Natsu was rather surprised, Erza chuckled at his gormless face. Link lowered his arm breathing out, just like last time new knowledge filled his head.

"Before I leave I must tell you one last thing Hero, plan ahead wisely, your enemies can feel your presence on this land and will provide resistance. Don't let them get the best of you. I wish you luck in the trials to come and bid you farewell."

"Wait!" Natsu yelled as the pixie faded. "Do you know where the dragons have gone?"

Before the pixie could fully disappear he said. "I am certain you and Igneel will meet again before the end." Lightning struck and the pixie had gone. Natsu fell to his knees, still not any closer to finding his father.

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So there you go, yes this chapter was a lot longer than the others due to numerous rewrites of certain bits. At one point I totally lost the chapter and had to start again from scratch (damn i-pad). There was a bit more to this chapter written but i struggled to fit it in as it wouldn't end the chapter well but I will summarise what I wrote just to tie up loose ends.

The magic council are called in and arrest Volga. Lucy manages to cure all the rats with Lyra's song but ends up unconcious of ours due to the amount of magic energy it took. The rats (now people) decide to stay in castelia and return it to the city it once was. Link successfully learned how to use Din's flame which is a projectile attack in which Link throws a fire ball that explodes on impact or when Link wants it to. Natsu is thrilled to discover the flames taste of charcoaled barbeque chicken. (In case you hadn't notice by now the idea for these spells came from Zelda's attacks from super smash bros). The party of mages return home to Fairy Tail on Airya. Woo!

So next chapter will be the start of the Naryu's Love section. As it's Advent soon i'm probably going to make the next few chapters slightly Christmas themed. Please tell me what you think it helps loads and thanks again for reading!


	10. Preparing for a Ball

Chapter 10 - Preparing for a Ball

Hey, so chapter 10 is more of a set up chapter for the future especially next chapter. Since it's pretty much advent the next few chapters will be leading up to Yuletide (christmas in Earthland, i thought it should have a more interesting name). I do however have a huge amount of stuff to do this month at college so my writing has started to slow down. I may take a break one week this month to catch up/write a really good Christmas special. Please review, it's really inspiring to hear what you think and incorporate it into my work. Enjoy!

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(One and a half months after the events at the ruins of Hyrule castle.)

Snow covered Magnolia, the whole guild was preparing for Yuletide which was fast approaching. Link was sitting at the bar idly chatting with Mira and Cana. Over the time he'd been at Fairy Tail he had become rather good friends with them, even going on a mission or two with Cana. He also seemed to be better friends with most of the women in the guild, his only two real male friends were Natsu and Gray. They could currently be seen sulking in a corner together watching him jealously. Of course they had yet to hear what the trio were talking about.

"You know Link, you really have gotten the attention of the women here haven't you? Why don't you let loose once in a while?" Cana slurred holding probably the twentieth mug of beer that day.

"Cana, I think you've drunk enough for one day." Link said reaching for her beer which she clung to like a child with candy and pouted.

"Hey now Link, don't change the topic. Who have you been checking out?" Mira teased.

"No one." Link said far too quickly his face going red.

"Wow, Link you know you've gone rather red there. Spill." Cana ordered.

"ugh, why do I talk to you guys?" Link complained.

"It's because you like the attention, you enjoy our torment you little masochist. Still we have our suspicions." Mira answered in a scarily sweet tone.

"That we do. We can tell just from looking at you who you like. You can't hide it," Cana leaned in close to his ear, Link could feel envious glares on his back. "Erza." Link blushed heavily and squirmed on the bar stool. "Ha we totally got you." Cana yelled high fiving Mira.

"I do not, keep it down." Link protested

"Don't worry Link, your secret is safe with us." Mira beamed

"Seriously? You guys are just cruel."

"Well, do you like her?" Cana inquired more seriously.

"I…I don't know, I mean I do like her, almost all my missions are with her and I trust her absolutely, but I can't tell if it's anything more than that. I'm not even sure if I want it to be more than that." Link thought about the last girl he liked, Zelda, she was worlds away and Link hadn't left her on the best of terms but he would always feel like he was betraying her if he so much as looked at another woman in that way. He still hadn't worked out if he would be able to get back and see her again. But he couldn't give up yet but after what had happened he doubted she was waiting for him.

Mira nodded as if she had heard it all before. Which she had, in fact everyone in the guild had a similar issues, it was really frustrating for her. However Link was one of the first to actually come out and say it, now she could actually help him.

"It sounds like you have a case of cold feet and I have the perfect remedy." Mira held up a job request. It was headlined 'Yuletide Gala', it was a guarding mission and not uncommonly seen on the request board. A couple of mages had to work undercover in a ball to stop anything out of the ordinary happening. Mira was obviously insinuating that he should take Erza to a ball. In all honesty the job was appetising but Link, as Mira had said, had cold feet. "I'll consider it, kay," He reluctantly said.

"Well, it's here if you want it." Mira smiled.

"Oh, crap! I'm gonna be late!" Link yelled as he saw the time. It was time for his training session with Erza. He began downing his drink as Cana leaned in close to his ear and whispered "Go get her tiger." Link spluttered spitting out his drink, as Cana laughed, Mira giggled and the rest of the guild glared. Link wiped his face and ran out the door.

Outside of the warm, cosy guildhall, the city of Magnolia was blanketed in snow, Winter had finally hit the city. It was in fact only a few days until Yuletide so the streets were lined with all kinds of decorations and lights. There was a brisk chill to the air but the festive feel was slowly climaxing. Link now wore more wintery gear over his tunic in the form of a long hooded fur cloak it had kept him incredibly warm over his first snow.

Erza was waiting at the training field also wearing armour more suited to the colder weather "your late Link," she stated as he ran over "that's the third time this week, so far your punctuality hasn't been your strong point, it could be the death of you." she cautioned sternly.

"Sorry Erz, I got … Distracted." He blushed and scratched the back of his head.

"Whatever let's get started."

And so Link went through his daily two hours of gruelling training. The training regime Erza had come up with was nothing if not brutal, a mix of sword play, strength and agility tests, mental challenges and magic training; the harsh winter wind didn't help. Over the month his control of magic had greatly improved he had mastered Din's Flame and Farore's Wind and could use them in combat or on jobs with ease. Erza would always spend time sparring with him if she wasn't working through her own training regime.

Every training session ended the same, Link had decided it would be incredibly useful to learn requipping magic in case he was ever disarmed or couldn't have his sword close by. He had the theory down but every practice ended in failure. Erza would place his blade three metres in front of him and Link would try to summon it towards him. This was the first stage in the training of Erza's magic. Once he could do this he would easily be able to pick up the rest of it. Link would spend huge amounts of time just willing the sword to move but it always just sat there, as still as a rock.

"Link, you've done enough for today. If you stay out here you'll catch a cold, Let's go in and get some food."

"In a minute, I've almost got this." Link replied confidently. Erza sighed, she admired his enthusiasm but if he didn't have the skills, the sword would never move. Making her mind up she took Link's sword handed it to him and dragged him away by his collar, stirring up a large amount of protest from Link.

That evening Link was with the rest of team Natsu (bar Erza who was at the bar getting a drink), idly chatting over their pints of beer… If you could call what Gray and Natsu were doing idly chatting. It was more like a full on swearing contest. Lucy had to put her hands over Wendy's ears to hide the profanity escaping their lips, It didn't help. Erza returned and death stared Natsu and Gray into submission. Lucy noticed a piece of paper behind her back.

"What's that Erza, we got a job?" Lucy asked. Before she could speak Natsu snatched the page. "Naw, were not doing this again." He groaned.

"Not you, you idiot, I thought it would be a good idea for me a Link to do the job, it doesn't need all of us, and i think Link needs a bit more experience in these areas." Erza stated. Link suddenly realised what the job was likely to be and looked over to the bar. Mira and Cana smiled and waved mischievously, of course they knew Erza would take any job they gave her, so they gave her this one and suggested that just the two of them go and gullible Erza just went along with it none the wiser. Link couldn't exactly say no so he accepted and was told they would set off early tomorrow.

(...)

Early next morning, Erza stood in front of Links house like she did most mornings. By now she knew Link was not a morning person and like most mornings she headed into the house. She knew there was only one way to wake a slob like Link up. Bacon. She went over to the stove and began to cook.

Link could smell something, it smelt good, it was a comforting, homely smell. Bacon. Link nostrils woke him up immediately as he jumped out of bed into the room below realising what was about to happen. As usual Erza was there cooking the bacon in a frilly pink apron which she wore over her armour.

"ERZA, STOP," he yelled sprinting towards the stove. It was too late, black fumes erupted from the pan filling the room with a vile smell. The bacon had charcoaled Link groaned "every morning."

"Morning Link, I made breakfast" Erza greeted as she scraped the smouldering lump onto a plate and put it on the table with equally burnt toast. Erza beamed, _Link always wakes up for my cooking. I should do it more often, I obviously have some natural talent. _He could get dressed before coming down though. Erza thought blushing slightly and looking away. Link didn't really have time to get dressed before saving his bacon so just abandoned his clothes. Even so was Erza really complaining?

Link reluctantly ate his charcoaled breakfast and prepared to set off. Putting on his green tunic, chain-mail and hat he was all set. He left his house and Erza was there waiting with her mountain of luggage. Link gave a loud whistle and Airya swooped down to land. Link patted her beak as they greeted each other fondly.

"Long trip today girl." Link said, the bird squawked and stared at Erza, who leaned smugly against her luggage. Link sighed and told Airya she would get a whole crate of fish on the way back if she helped. He knew bribery wasn't the best idea with her but there was no way that the two would ever get along. Airya grudgingly agreed and allowed Link and Erza on board, Erza more reluctantly. "I don't like riding you either, bird." She said so only the bird could hear. In one great flap Airya was airborne, she picked up the luggage and soared away over Magnolia. If there was one thing the two could agree on is that flying above the snow covered Magnolia was one of the best feelings in the world.

It was mid-afternoon when the trio arrived at the large gothic castle estate. Erza and Link jumped off Airya, who went to look for a perch after literally dropping Erza's stuff, and landed in the courtyard where they were greeted by Lord Francis Wentle the host of the party. He was a small thin balding man in his late 50's wearing a deep purple velvet suit.

"Ahh, the wizards, it's so good to meet you." He exclaimed, his voice rather high. He took both Erza's then Link's hands with both of his shaking them vigorously.

"It is good to meet you too lord Wentle. I am Erza and this is Link, we're at your service." Erza announced gesturing at Link both bowed slightly.

"Right, let's get down to business. Your job is reasonably simple, keep everyone in the ball safe, watch out for suspicious characters and keep security tight. You will have to look your best so erm." He looked Link up and down. Link was rather offended this was the wardrobe chosen by the gods!

"Don't worry, this is just his travel gear, he has something smarter to wear, right." Erza elbowed Link.

"What… Oh yeh totally fine." He said reluctantly

"Right, I'll have my son give you the grand tour and escort you to your rooms for the night. Titania, you should know he is quite the fan and is quite eager to meet you in person." The lord spoke, as a tall man dressed in dark blue leather armour with a longsword at his hip stepped into the courtyard. He walked over to them and bowed onto one knee in front of Erza and said. "Titania, it is a pleasure to meet you on such a fine day. My name is Sir Walter Wentle." Link stifled a laugh and got a venomous look from the man. Walter took her gauntleted hand and kissed it. Link immediately didn't like this guy. Walter stood up and sized up Link, Walter was a fair bit taller than Link and a tad more muscular, he was also rather handsome with his dark, well finished hair and black goatee, Link doubted he had any issues with the ladies. Irritation creeped onto Link's face, the man just made him feel incredibly inferior by just standing there.

Walter held his hand out, directing Erza towards a door, his back facing Link. As they entered the castle, Walter began to give Erza the grand tour whilst Link followed behind sulking. They saw the halls, balconies, bedrooms, music rooms; this castle was more like a palace than a fortification. Eventually they finished at the rooms Link and Erza would be staying in. Fortunately they were next to each other. Walter left in order to get ready for the party kissing Erza on the hand again.

"I don't trust him," Link whispered to Erza as Walter walked away.

"You're just being paranoid Link relax." Erza saw the time and gasped "I'd better get ready!" She rushed into her room, she had to look perfect tonight. Link didn't know but Mira had suggested the mission to Erza for the same reason she suggested it to Link. Erza decided she would look fantastic so Link wouldn't be able to resist her charm.

Link was surprised at her swift departure but shrugged and entered his own room. He flopped on the four-poster bed enjoying it's deep mattress. Still he couldn't quite get comfy it wasn't quite like his bed at home. He frowned, in all honesty he was a bit bored. He got up and left to explore. There wasn't very much more to see but he decided it would be best to sweep the place, locate entrances and exits; this was a job after all. He had managed to find a rather nifty secret tunnel near the main hall hidden behind a statue of a lion. It lead out the back of the castle down a steep cliff face. He decided to note that down for later and to look for more secrets later on. He soon realised hour and a half had passed and preparations were near completion, he quickly headed back to where Erza was. On the way up some stairs he bumped right into Sir Walter.

"Ah, it's you. I don't believe we've met." Walter said it as if it were a challenge.

"Link." Link replied cautiously holding out his hand for a shake. Walter grabbed his hand roughly and pulled him in whispering in his ear.

"Don't get in my way tonight, kay big guy." He let go and walked on by. Link was slightly shocked and ran up the rest of the stairs towards Erza's room. _What was this guy planning?_

He burst in on Erza who was looking at herself in a long mirror, she turned around as he entered. Link was instantly entranced, Erza was wearing a daring black ball gown that looked fantastic with her hair, it showed off her figure perfectly accenting her bust and hips. She wore elbow high gloves and black flats, she went minimalist with the make up and jewellery, only wearing a pair of onyx earrings. Link was totally stunned and stood in the door way with his mouth gaping. Erza smiled.

"That bad, huh?"

Link immediately shook his head. "You look… Incredible." He stuttered still speechless. Then Link saw it, the ever rare blush on Erza's cheeks as she avoided eye contact.

"Link your still dressed in those." She stated, in fairness she thought there was nothing wrong with it, his armour was a part of who he was, she didn't want him to change out of it but in all honestly she doubted it had been washed in three thousand years. "Here I have one of Gray's suits you can wear, I figured this would happen," she went and began searching in her mountain of suitcases. Pulling out a whole plethora of stuff from clothes to books to a small cute dog plushie. Eventually she pulled out a suit thrust it at Link and cast him out of the room. Link went to his own room and sat on his bed. Erza had looked stunning, Link put his head in his hands. _Could__ I have feelings for Erza?_ Link felt his heart pounding rapidly in his chest. _I obviously do_. Then Links mind wandered to the real question: Was he allowed to act on them? He sighed and decided to get ready, he didn't have very long.

After a quick shower and an attempt at brushing his unruly hair he tried on the suit. He hid his adventure pouch on his belt under the suit, therefore if anything were to happen he would at least have his shield and equipment with him, he wouldn't be able to bring his sword though which made him feel slightly vulnerable, it felt like the silent realm all over again except much less silent. He also chose to wear gloves over his hands to hide the triforce and fairy tail mark. Unfortunately as always the triforce burned through the left glove leaving it's mark vividly on the back of the glove. Link sighed he guessed it didn't want to be hidden.

Erza knocked and entered the room, now it was her turn to be speechless. It was a simple black suit and white shirt deal, but he looked incredibly handsome.

"What do you think?" Link asked.

"Great," Erza said quickly. She worried that if she blushed anymore tonight her face would permanently remain the same colour as her hair.

"Good, I've never worn a suit before, there are a lot of things I haven't done before recently. I guess I have you to thank for that." Link said honestly stumbling on his words. Erza walked up to Link and fixed his bow-tie.

"Don't worry about it, make sure you enjoy yourself tonight, I imagine it's your first ball as well."

Link laughed. As he stopped he looked deep into Erza's chestnut eyes, the world around them went silent. "Erza just be careful, I really don't trust Walter. I don't know why but please be safe."

"You worry too much Link, I promise I'll be fine." Erza replied trying to comfort Link slightly.

Link walked over and opened the door, gesturing for Erza to go through. "The party awaits." Erza linked her arm with Link's who suddenly felt very self conscious as they headed towards the ballroom. "Relax, I can feel how tense you are." Erza comforted. They looked at each other and laughed as they entered what was to be a rather interesting night.


	11. The Yuletide Ball

Chapter 11 - The Yuletide Ball

Hey guys, again this wasnt an easy chapter to do and actually ended up long over 4000 words so i've split it into rather uneven halves of which this is the longer one. Again i'm introducing a few new OC's, whether they will have a huge impact on the future story I don't know. I don't really want to make up some characters then just totally forget about them. I should warn you there is quite a bit of bad language this is probably the worst chapter for it so if your uncomfortable with it I apologise. Still I hope you enjoy the new chapter please follow, fave and the lot.

Thank you all for reading you guys are the best!

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The ballroom was stunning. A small chamber orchestra played sweet yuletide carols from the left side of the hall, to the right were large arched windows leading out to a balcony. Around the edges of the room were various round tables for the guests to dine on and ahead was a more grand, raised table for the host and honoured guests. The whole room was ornately decorated with tinsel and well decorated pine trees. The whole place had a truly festive feel. Walter sat alone at the head table grimacing.

Link and Erza entered the large hall, to the right of the door stood Lord Francis who was chatting idly to some member of the gentry, he noticed the two mages.

"Ah, Jeffrey allow me introduce you, this is Erza Azure and Link Harkian. Two distant relatives from across the sea, they've travelled quite the distance to get here." Link wasn't fond of his new last name but he could see that Erza simply hated hers.

"Ah, Well Happy Yuletide to you," the man greeted "So where abouts are you from."

"My father owns an estate to the south of here, it's quite a way away not many people have heard of it." Erza replied creating the story so as to not arouse suspicion.

"Yes, well Jeffrey I will catch up with you later." Francis said dismissing the man quickly and without being too rude.

"Ah yes, see you in a bit then ol' chap." The man left to mingle with others at the ball.

"Right then you two, you know what you have to do, just stay undercover and watch out for anything suspicious. Try not to let anyone figure out who you are. If you would like to know where you are seated ask a butler. Now I will see you at the end of this evening with the payment."

"Yes sir." Erza replied as he walked off. Link felt rather out of place here, it was far more grand than he was used to, he was rather glad Erza was beside him, at least there was one person he knew. The pair entered the hall and were instantly greeted by Sir Walter who had wandered to the other end of the hall to meet Erza.

"Erza, may I say you look stunning this evening," he said bowing. "I have managed to save you a seat at the high table right next to mine, there is really no need to thank me." He gestured away from Link towards the high table. Erza gave an apologetic look as she was obliged to accept the promotion. She unlinked her arm with his and headed to the top of the room. Link glared daggers at Walter who returned with a victorious smirk.

Link sighed and decided to mingle for a bit, he was however shunned from numerous conversations as the elderly lords argued continually about politics and money ignoring Link completely. It wasn't long before Link noticed a group of young men skulking at the side of the room. He decided to join them, at least they were roughly his age. The young men were all tall and rather handsome and were chuckling about something. They were instantly silent when Link joined.

"Can we help you short stuff?" One asked examining Link. He was considerably taller than Link with short white-blonde hair with a rather unique cut.

"Probably not," Link answered, the group laughed.

"So who the hell are you, can't say we've seen you here before."

"Link Harkian, I'm a distant relation of Lord Francis." The group laughed again.

"What that midget? I feel sorry for you man."

"Why?"

"Why?" The blonde guy scoffed, "cos he's fucking mental man have you seen him, he's far too trusting, one day someones gonna just milk him for all he's worth and leave him in the gutter. Even his son Walter is a bit odd, still he's managed to get a pretty fit piece of meat tonight." Link could have hit him right then for refering to Erza, or anyone for that matter, in such a way. He looked up to Erza who was smiling as she chatted with Walter, Link still felt a pang of jealousy.

Suddenly the guys got excited nudging the blonde guy and pointing to a pretty woman who had just entered the hall. She was wearing a long golden ball gown, her brunette hair was pinned up with an assortment of jewelled accessories. She was joined by numerous other friends "So she came. Right then let's do this boys. Tonight she'll be mine." The man said with a smirk that disconcerted Link. Immediately a detachment of boys headed off and ushered the woman's friends away from her singling out the brunette. Then the blonde man moved in. Link noticed that the guys seemed quite experienced at this. _They really did act like sharks_. "So, who is she?" Link asked pointing towards the brunette.

"Are you thick. That is Helena Pontefract the daughter and heiress of probably the wealthiest family in Fiore. Jason and her have had a thing for years this is the night that he's finally going to claim her." Link turned to the man who spoke with a disgusted expression he didn't want to know what he meant. Link looked back at the woman, she seemed distressed as the blonde man spoke to her. He seemed to have backed her into a corner not letting her escape. After a few seconds she physically pushed him away. Link decided to step in. He walked forward.

"Oy dude, what do you think you're doing? don't interfere." A man grabbed onto Link's shoulder. Link looked back there was an anger in his eyes these guys were jerks and Link knew it. He imitated Erza's death stare making the man back down. "It's your funeral man but I wouldn't pick a fight with Jason he's a demon,"

"That's good then, i'll send him back to hell like the last two i fought." Link said then continued walking towards the scene. As he approached, the woman, Helena, tried to walk away but Jason grabbed her wrist almost violently, she tried to break free but his grip was strong. Link knew at this point he had made the right decision. He put his hand on Jason's shoulder.

"Hey, maybe you should lay off." Link suggested.

"Excuse me but I'm failing to see how it's any of your business." Jason bit back.

"I'm afraid to say no sane woman wants a guy whose ego is bigger than his dick, although that's not exactly hard for you is it." Link calmly said, Jason's eyes filled with rage.

"You've asked for it now." He grinned as he swung round to deliver a punch to Link's face. There was a smack as flesh hit flesh and the whole dance hall looked immediately stopped to view the commotion. As the dust settled Jason's face fell as he noticed his hand had been stopped in midair, Link had caught the fist in a vice grip before it had even got close to his face.

Link leaned in close. "If I were you I'd stop before you make anymore of a scene." Jason pulled his fist out of Link's grasp. The atmosphere was tense at this point Jason could do anything. Link realised he was risking his cover massively and should probably escape the situation. Before Jason could retaliate a butler with a large bushy moustache tapped Jason on the shoulder. "Sir, your table is ready." Jason didn't have much choice so with a scowl he followed the butler out into the dining hall. He looked back and mouthed "This isn't the end." Link marked the man in his head as a suspicious character and decided he would have to keep a close eye on him. Link sighed and relaxed slightly, he looked at the woman he had just defended she was surrounded by her friends who were bustling around her but she was just staring intently at Link in slight confusion. He smiled and curtly nodded at the woman before walking away.

Link decided to find his table and lay low for a while, asking a butler he was directed to a table in the corner near the door, it seemed shorter then the others. He went over and sat down, his mind was working a mile a minute, he was far too stressed, he realised the butler had just saved him from revealing his identity. _Maybe making him angry was a bad idea_ Link thought_._ He looked over to the head table where Erza and Walter were laughing together over some joke Walter had made. It didn't make Link feel any better, _Mira offered the job so Erza would be with me not him._ Link complained, his conflicted feelings returning. He grabbed his hair with both hands and rested his elbows on the table.

Link heard a shuffle next to him and saw a young blonde girl wearing a frilly pink dress looking up at him.

"Why are you on the kids table?" She said rather directly.

"This is my seat I guess." Link sighed was there a mistake?

"But you're not a kid, you're old." That hit Link like a ton of bricks.

"Well your nice. Whats the name of my little bully then?"

"I'm Ysolda and I'm not a bully."

"Sure you aren't, I'm Link nice to meet you." Link said ruffling her hair, his mind was beginning to clear.

"Hey," she complained Link stopped, she looked at him confused, "Your not like the other people here are you."

"No I guess I'm not."

"So who are you then."

Link grinned "I'll tell you but you have to keep it a secret okay."

"Okay"

"Pinky swear" Link held out his pinky. She took it nodding.

"Well, truth is I'm a secret agent here to stop anything bad happening." The girls eyes lit up and she giggled "But I'm going to need a hand, you see my friend is occupied over there so I need someone else to help me," Link could see she was hooked "Let's see, they need to be as sneaky as a thief, smart as a wizard and most importantly they must have the courage of a lion. Any ideas?"

"Oo pick me I can be sneaky." The girl put her hand up.

"I dunno,"

"Pleeeeease." Ysolda begged

"Ok go find your friends and we'll all work together."

"Right." Her eyes flooded with determination as she ran off to find the other children at the party. Link relaxed into his chair, telling kids his identity probably wasn't the best thing to do but kids are far more observant than adults and he would soon have a small army at his side. He relaxed in his chair. _How do innocent kids like this become so sour?_ He thought back to Jason and his 'gang'. He sighed trying not to think about it, this mission was a lot of work.

Ysolda soon returned with 5 other children, 3 boys and two girls all under ten. Of the two girls one was wearing a red dress with black hair she had a bored uninterested look, the second girl was wearing a pale blue dress she looked the youngest and had her little finger in her mouth as she looked up at Link. Two of the boys were obviously twins and were sporting matching purple suits and ridiculously spiked-up hair, both bore mischievous grins.

"Reporting for duty, sir." The final boy said giving a smart salute. He wore large glasses and a green velvet suit he had neat black hair.

"At ease agents, right, Today we have special mission and I need your help. Okay, This is what I need you to do." He told the children the plan and they ran off excitedly. Link got up from the children's table watching them go. He sighed and relaxed into his chair before he felt a presence next to him. He opened his eyes and was met by the woman he had saved.

"Well, your pretty good with kids Mr. Secret agent." She greeted smiling.

Link had little idea what to do so just said, "Yeh, I guess I have a way with children."

"So it seems, well then Mr. Agent aren't you going to introduce yourself." Link got flustered bowed and said "Um, Good evening, my name is Link, it's a pleasure to meet you." The woman giggled at his attempt to appear upperclass.

"The pleasure is all mine, my name is Helena." Link grinned awkwardly and scratched the back of his head, as she curtsied.

"Listen I came here to thank you for what you did earlier, and to apologise. I've known Jason all my life, recently he's been more possessive over me. I'm terribly sorry you had to be caught up in it." Link smiled.

"I was just trying to help, there is really no need to thank me."

"Still, to be able to stop a punch like that you must be pretty strong, who are you really." Helena took a step forward closing the gap between them, Link laughed awkwardly he was totally unused to these situations he hid the triforce from her view. "No one important."

"Oh really? I'm afraid I'm not buying that," Out of the corner of his eye he could see Ysolda and the other kids giggling as they watched the scene. "Let me see, you hold yourself proudly like a knight, you are hiding your identity from everyone at the ball which means you don't want to be discovered and finally your eyes show every emotion you feel; all that loss, all that love. How could any woman resist a hero like you?" Helena leaned in and whispered in his ear. "This is where you invite me to dance." Link stuttered he hadn't even considered dancing tonight. She laughed took his hand and lead him to the dance floor.

Erza looked down from the head table, and saw Link dancing, surprisingly well, with some unknown beauty. She sighed, somehow, seeing that had made her evening that much worse, somewhere inside her she wished she was dancing with him instead of the strange woman. At least he was having a good time, she was stuck with Sir. Walter Wentle who was a rather closed up man, they had made polite conversation which Sir. Walter found rather difficult, yet Sir. Walter seemed to want her close by and wouldn't let her leave for too long, it was suspicious but he may just be paranoid for the safety of his father. It wasn't long before dinner was being served. The woman left Link with, to Erza's dislike, a light kiss on the cheek. Erza could see his blush from where she was sitting. She watched as he went back to sit with the children who all noisily made fun of him. _What ever happened to keeping a low profile?_ Link had managed to catch the eyes of almost every woman in the hall as well as piss off all the guys. Erza turned to her meal pretending not to be too bothered by it all. As a starter she had been given an ornate cup and saucer filled with pea soup, it was very stylish and probably tasted great but Erza had totally lost her appetite.

Before the main course began the host of the party Lord Francis stood up and tapped his glass. The room went silent. "Ladies and gentlemen," he started. "I would very much like to thank you for attending the Yuletide Ball and I do hope you are having a wonderful evening." With that there was a polite applause. "I would also like to thank the long table foundation for allowing me to host this prestigious event. So before I bore you all with my many thanks, I would like to propose a toast." Erza saw as everyone reached for their glasses, next to her Walter was smirking as he watched his father reach for his cup. The whole hall stood up, even Link with his apple juice. "To a wondrous Yuletide," everyone raised their glasses and repeated all drinking except Erza, she was watching Walter closely, was Link right? What was Walter up to?

Francis rose his glass to his lips and was about to sip before a flash flew straight past him smashing through the glass in the man's hands spraying red liquid and glass shards everywhere.

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Dun dun daaaaa! Cliffhanger! See you next week! :P


	12. Assassin

Chapter 12 - Assassin

Hello again. here it is the assassin is about to be revealed, this is the second half of the original chapter i wrote and it is a lot shorter than the first this fight scene was again rather hard to write and to me seems a bit rushed but be sure to tell me what you think of it.

* * *

Francis' face switched to a state of shock and the man passed out in his chair. Wedged right next to his face was a simple steel throwing needle. Walter swore loudly and looked around for the culprit. Link had run into the centre of the hall.

"There in the rafters." Walter pointed. Sure enough a figure was leaping away from the head table. Link reached for his magic whip, a glowing blue orb shone at the end of it. He cast it over to the figure wrapping it around his ankles before he could jump out a window and escape. Link pulled the man to earth and he fell into the centre of the room. The figure found himself wedged between Erza in her ball-gown wielding a blade and Link with his whip and tux. The man stood to his full height, he was shorter than Link with a slender frame. He was clad in pale blue robes and white bandages covered his arms and face failing to hide long blonde hair that poked out messily. On his chest was an odd symbol, a red eye with a large tear drop in the centre. Link recognised it Impa wore a similar symbol on her robes which meant he was a Shiekah. Link didn't even realise the tribe still existed or why they would make an attempt on some random lord's life. It didn't matter, the man was a threat and had to be taken care of. Erza attacked but fell foul to a small stunning explosive thrown by the Shiekah deterring her. Link yelled "NOW" and the children sprang into action, they all stood on the tables yelling as they fired at the shiekah using slingshots. The shots that missed smashed through the small sections of windows that made up the large arches. Link used their distraction to get the drop on the shiekah, He used Farore's wind to teleport towards him and put his whip away, he went in to punch the man but the sheikah blocked with his forearm. The sheikah chopped with lightning speed striking Link's side paralysing him temporarily. He jumped over Link's back and ran towards the door. Erza attacked again, the sheikah turned to face her and knocked her too her knees in two accurate motions incapacitating her before she could even react. The sheikah then finished Erza with a swift kick sending her onto her back. Link saw it happen and yelled in frustration, this guy was ridiculous. The sheikah carried on running, Link knew he couldn't let him escape. A strong feeling welled up inside him and he felt his triforce glow in his hand. In a second a sword smashed through the window of the hall and flew into Link's palm. Link sprinted towards the man determination flooding his eyes. The Shiekah held up an odd bomb and threw it to the ground. White smoke erupted from the bomb and surrounded the man. Link slashed through the mist to find the sheikah had totally vanished. He'd failed to catch him. Link cursed. Erza got up un-equipping her sword.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I apologise for the disturbance in your evening, I can assure you that the threat has been dealt with. However I implore you to retire to your rooms or head home as fast as possible." Erza stated. She looked over to the head table, Walter had gone and many people were around lord Francis who was still in and out of consciousness from the fright.

"Link I need to talk to you outside." Link turned to the kids who all had wide grins on their faces and nodded in thanks before following Erza.

Erza stood on the balcony, it was a lot colder out here, she could feel winters chill in the air. She visibly shivered, Link threw his suit jacket over her and undid his bowtie. She smiled happy that they had been reunited.

"You did it Link, you summoned your sword from the other side of the castle!"

"I know! I don't know what I did but it worked."

"Well then good job," her face turned to a frown. "Are you sure it was a good idea to get the children involved Link," Erza asked

"It worked didn't it, besides I don't think she would attack children. She didn't actually fight us the whole time she was simply attempting escape."

"She? What makes you say that."

"She smelt good, like perfume." Link shrugged. Erza flicked him on the side of the head.

"Maybe you just had your head in the clouds after that kiss, that's right I saw it." Link looked guilty and avoided eye contact, "Anyway that's not important, I don't think she was there to attack anyone. What does it mean if an assassin misses his target?"

"she's a bad shot."

"Assassins don't mess up Link, Francis wasn't the target, his glass was."

"Wait, what?" Link was confused but quickly realised it made sense, why would a shiekah be assassinating people?

"I have a horrible feeling that his wine was poisoned, we need to know who did it because they may strike again before the end of the night. The safest place for Francis is here where there is a large crowd but he won't want to be here after his shock. I want you to escort and guard Francis inside his room, stay hidden and wait in case the threat appears again, I will stay here and keep an eye on the guests. Unfortunately Walter has mysteriously disappeared which is rather suspicious so keep an eye out."

"Right, see you soon." Link and Erza parted ways again.

Upon reentering the party, the guests were in a bit of a frenzy. Link saw Helena as she left the hall she looked back at Link with a frown on her face. Link went over to Francis who was back in consciousness and being taken care of by some maids.

"My Lord, I think it would be best for you to retire for tonight, my friend will handle everything here so there's no need worry." Link reassured the man, he looked like he had aged ten years, almost dying does that to you. The small man nodded and allowed the maids to hoist him to his feet. As they left Link noticed little Ysolda getting berated by her parents for her reckless behaviour. The child just scoffed, she looked over to Link and ran over giving him a hug around his waist. "Good work today agent, I'll be in touch." Link dismissed the child ruffling her hair. She grinned and ran back to her parents who were scowling in his direction.

Quarter of an hour later, Link was sat in the shadows of Francis' room. The man was fast asleep, the maids had given him a strong sedative to calm him down. The only light in the room was from the faint moonlight cascading through the windows. Link sighed relaxing into his chair. He was exhausted, it had been a rather intense night considering it was only ten thirty. He suddenly remembered the kiss. It had come from no where, from some pretty stranger he had helped once, looking back on it made him feel good but the feeling was soon drowned out with guilt. _What would Zel think if she saw that? Would she even care anymore? What about Erza? Mira and Cana will be disappointed._ He groaned at the situation. The sound of the wind filled the air and a shadow was cast across the room.

"It's a fine evening. Link." The Shiekah announced her presence she was standing by the window leaning on the wall arms crossed across her chest. Her voice was just as ambiguous as her face. Link leapt to his feet and raised his arm to the sword on his back. He quickly lowered it realising she wasn't a threat.

"Is there a reason you have returned?" He inquired still slightly suspicious.

"Aye, My name is Iris of the sheikah tribe, I'm guessing you have a few questions for me,"

Link looked at the shiekah questionably, still unsure of how trustworthy she was. "You know who wanted to kill the lord don't you."

"So you figured it out, yes I did come here to save his life, the man who planted the poison is not to blame rather the man who payed him is."

"Who?"

"Sir Walter Wentle," the Shiekah replied

Link's suspicions were correct, "There has to be a reason for the attempt, why would he want to kill him publicly."

"It's likely so he could come out as the good guy pretending to mourn over his father's death and earn the respect of the rest of the gentry. He would then inherit his father's fortune. It was greed that drove Walter but there must have been a catalyst. Walter wouldn't attempt something like this on his own."

"So you think that Walter was convinced to do this by someone else."

"Lord Francis is your best lead towards Naryu's Love, we can therefore assume that it is Zeref who is the mastermind behind this plan."

"How do you know about that?" Link asked the Shiekah about his mission. _who is this woman? _Before she could answer a sound came from the bed.

"So my own son plotted my death…" Francis mumbled from his bed. "He'll be long gone by now you won't catch him, but I have no doubt you will meet again. It's Link correct?" Francis looked at Link. "Show me your hand." Link walked over to the bed removing his left glove revealing the triforce on his skin. "Hmm, many years ago I was told I would meet you and that I would have to relay this information. 'Naryu's Love is located in the largest lake of this land. You will have to face your own darkness to receive it'." The old man sighed "Sheikah, thank you for saving this old mans life but it was possibly in vain, I'm afraid the shock of all this has not done wonders for my weak heart. Link may I ask you to perform one final task for me." Link nodded smiling at the old man. "My son is not evil just misguided, if you ever meet him again, please help him to become a better man." Link nodded as the old man turned to face the window "It truly is a fine evening," Francis said using his final breath.

Link looked towards Iris. "HE is not the first casualty of this war Link, Eventually he will come and find you, when he does he will aim for those you care about. Keep them safe. I'm sure we'll meet again." With a wisp of wind the sheikah had vanished. Link sighed, silently he turned and left the room, feeling the weight that fate had brought upon his shoulders. It came at a cost but Link now knew where the final key lay.

* * *

I believe in the near future i am going to rewrite chapter five which is the fight between Link and Erza. I was never one hundered percent happy with it as previously stated thanks to Jackflame and Onihelix who helped me realise how wrong the way Link lost was. Jack has given me some good ideas for the new fight and i will hopefully get it written before new years but i can't really promise anything. If you have any ideas for the fight please let me know but i would prefer that Link loses.

Next week is the christmas special wooo! Which I have already written and i actually really like it, it does need some fine tuning but by next week i'm sure it will be awesome. See you later guys, Chris!


	13. Yuletide - Christmas Special

Chapter 13 - Yuletide

what's up guys here it is. This is the christmas special, i actually really enjoyed writing it and sincerely hope I managed to capture the magic of fairy tail and Christmas in this chapter. I hope you enjoy it please fave, follow and review if you enjoy it.

Merry Yuletide!

* * *

Link and Erza returned to the guildhall the following morning having failed their mission. It had been discovered in the evening that Lord Francis had died of heartbreak after finding out about his son's betrayal. The pair left early the next morning both feeling the heavy burden of their failure. Upon entering the hall both went over to the bar and ordered something to take their minds off things.  
"So, how'd the mission go?" Mira asked  
"Pretty awful." Link announced "let's not talk about it."  
"I see. Well, lets get rid of those frowns shall we. It's yuletide eve after all!"  
The guildhall had already been decorated incredibly just in time for the yearly festival, A large Yuletide tree stood in the centre of the room decorated wonderfully in silver and gold streams of magic. Everyone had put a personal touch on the tree, it was tradition that the ladies of the guild would put a pair of earrings that most suited their personalities or magics on the tree. There was a sword piercing from Erza, Lucy had hung a key earring on, Juvia for some reason had some custom made Gray earrings. The guys however had also added their touches: Gray's was the most prominent he had put icy frosting all over the tree with a few icicles making the tree sparkle in the light, Romeo had put a tiny flame in a jar on the tree, Natsu of course was not allowed anywhere near the tree as the last eight trees had all burned down because of his misbehaviour, even so he had still made his mark by hanging a small, red, glass dragon in honour of his father close to the top of the tree. Link had made a small contribution and had a golden ornament in the shape of the triforce made to go on the tree. Of course at the very top of the tree stood a large golden version of the Fairy Tail insignia. Presents were already building up underneath the tree.

With Yuletide so close, Erza and Link couldn't help but feel slightly better. Erza was called away to report to Markarov the happenings of the last evening, leaving Link with Mira. Link knew what was coming. Just as Mira was about to ask Link shook his head.  
"Nothing happened Mira." She pouted unhappily.  
"Ah well, I'm sure you got her a fantastic gift to make up for it right?"  
"Oh shi…" Link launched himself out of his stool.  
"Wait you haven't got her a gift. What about the rest of us." She looked worried  
"Oh don't worry I have all yours, I wanted to get something special for Erza and was going to get it yesterday but well you know the rest." Link quickly said shouldering his shield over his winter jacket. Mira laughed well you'd better hurry then.  
"right." Link said as he ran out of the door.

(...)

An hour later Link found himself in the middle of Magnolia still no closer to finding a gift. He was staring in a jewellery store window when he felt a presence behind him.  
"Bit of last minute christmas shopping Link?" Link leapt out of his skin in surprise, he turned to find Lucy with an evil smirk on her face. Link scratched the back of his head.  
"Um yeh, I need to find something for Erza."  
"Ooo and your looking in a jewellery shop eh? What you planning lover boy?" Lucy nudged Link. Link just sighed he was used to the teasing now. "Shut up, I wanted to get her something special, you know? I just haven't been able to find her anything. any ideas?"  
"Well you could get her a sword but she has plenty of those, jewellery is a good option but has little sentimental value. It's a puzzle." Suddenly Lucy's face perked up. "Oh I have a great idea!" She announced  
"What?" Link was eager, this could be it.  
"This way." She grabbed Link by the arm and ran off, Link flapped in the wind behind her.

"We're here!" Lucy announced.  
Link sweat dropped as he looked up at the sign. "I don't think that's a good idea." The shop sign read 'Nearly Naked' and the window was filled with yuletide themed underwear which forced Link to divert his eyes away in embarrasment.  
"I'm sure Erza would love some lingerie, especially if it's from you." Lucy whispered the last part in his ear.  
"Um, thanks for your help but I think I'll pass." With that Link wandered off to the next jewellery store. Lucy followed close behind pouting grumpily. They had barely left the vicinity of the lingerie shop before Link heard a loud rumble, wait, did that come from. He turned around with an evil grin and saw Lucy clutching her stomach glaring at Link challenging him to laugh at her or make a witty comment. Getting the picture Link held up his hands as a peace sign and said. "You know what, why don't we get some lunch."

Around half an hour later Link and Lucy sat on a park bench each happily munching on some giant cinnamon pretzels.  
"Hey Lucy, what about you? What are you doing out?"  
"Same reason as you I guess, I'm looking for a special present for a friend."  
Link sighed "It's a lot harder than it looks. This friend special to you?"  
"Well obviously... honestly he is the person who makes my world go round, I can't imagine life without him. He has done so much for me while i've been at fairy tail, I just wish I could find a present that sums up my feelings." Lucy looked thoughtfully into the clear Winter's sky.  
"I know how you feel." Link joined her. What she had just described, although she was likely much further on in the development of her feelings, felt incredibly similar to Link's own feelings for a certain someone. Somehow, despite the fact they'd only met a month ago, Link felt incredibly strongly for Erza and he couldn't deny it, it made him worry about the future. He couldn't bare to lose her. Link thought of the sheikah's warning.  
"Well," Lucy said cheerfully. "Let's work together and find the perfect present, kay Link!"  
Link nodded grinning widely.

That evening Lucy and Link decided to call it a day. Lucy at least had had some success she clutched the gift as if it were her own child, Link however was still struggling.  
"Maybe you could get her something from one of your adventures." Lucy suggested.  
Link thought back to their very first meeting, an idea slowly forming in his head. Then he got it.  
"Lucy, you are an absolute genius." He said hugging her tightly. Before he left he said "Listen about that special someone, I think you ought to tell him how you feel, bottled up emotions like that are dangerous, have courage I would be willing to bet that he reciprocates your feelings." Lucy blushed and nodded as Link ran off towards his house waving. He brimmed with excitement he had to get the gift ready on time. Lucy sighed and clutched the present they had decided on. She looked up to the night sky, "Ok, I'll do it." She said to herself, she left for her own house and the whole city fell asleep, Every man woman and child waiting with anticipation and glee for the following day.

(...)

Bells tolled loudly from Magnolia cathedral the following morning heralding the arrival of Yuletide. The sun slowly peaked over the distant mountains flooding Magnolia with it's warm light. The snow that covered the city glistened in the sunlight. Erza was surprised to find that instead of sleeping in, Link was standing outside his house petting his Loftwing Airya, fondly wishing her a happy Yuletide. Erza could see around the Loftwing's neck was a dazzling winter themed collar, silver with a large snowflake at the front. The bird seemed incredibly happy with it and nuzzled close to Link. It then raised back it's head and began to cough, right in front of Link it dropped a half eaten fish as a gift to Link. Although Erza was repulsed by the slime covered fish, Link happily accepted the gift and took a large bite out.

Erza approached Link from behind, "Happy Yuletide Link." She greeted hugging him from behind.  
"Same to you too." Link replied grinning. The Loftwing glared at Erza for interrupting her quality time with Link.  
"And a happy Yuletide to you to bird." She said grudgingly to the loftwing. "You know I got something for you." She may not like the bird but it was Yuletide after all. She held up a salmon she had found in the freezer at Fairy Hills. The bird immediately perked up. Erza threw the fish into the sky and it was deftly caught by Airya who gobbled it down in seconds. The bird then looked rather guilty and began to cough again. "Don't you even think about it." Erza said pointing at the bird. Airya swallowed and relaxed. "So Link should we head out."  
"Yup, the guild will be waiting for us." With that the pair waved goodbye to the Loftwing who took off for a morning flight and headed towards the guild.

Despite how early it was the whole guild was already at the hall. They were all wearing festive clothing and jumpers and were happily celebrating together. Even people who were rarely around had arrived today including Gildarts who was hugging Cana tightly as she struggled to escape his mighty grip. All the tables had been pushed together creating an enormous table behind the tree and in front of the stage. Everyone was sitting down and waiting for master Markorov to make his Yuletide speech. Erza and Link took two seats with the rest of their team, Link caught Lucy's eyes and they nodded at each other knowingly.

After ten minutes of socialising Markarov finally stood on the stage.  
"Mages of Fairy tail, I would like to wish you a very MERRY YULETIDE." The guild roared in response Link joined in with the loud season greeting. "Today is a day of family love between us. For some of us this is the first Yuletide in seven years with the whole family, for some of us it is simply the first Yuletide with us at all, but none of that matters we're all together today so lets make the most of it." The whole Guild cheered heartily. "Now let's open some presents!" He yelled  
Everyone made for the tree which was filled with stacks of presents for each member of the guild. Natsu of course was the first to fly in and tear apart his presents. Every other member approached more casually. Link approached his pile and was surprised by how many presents he had received he started unwrapping them like everyone else. Smiles and hugs of gratitude flew around the guildhall as everyone received fantastic gifts from each other. Levy ended up with huge piles of books. Reedus got a bucket tonne of art supplies. Erza got various gifts from many members of the guild including a Natsu's scarf replica from Natsu, a never melt ice statue from Gray, she saw Levy's mischievous grin as she opened her present to reveal a rather graphic smutty novel Erza's face erupted with embarrassment and she hid the book under her pile of presents before Link could see. Erza was quite disappointed when she found out she was missing Link's present. She looked over to him seeing him with a large christmas jumper from Wendy and Carla. I guess he's saving it for later like I am.

After an hour of present unwrapping lunch was being served everyone ran over to their seats eager for the Yuletide meal. The table was bountifully laden with a huge assortment of meats, vegetables, Yuletide pastries and other delicious foods. The Guild tucked in happily and singing and drinking as they ate. The whole guild made merry for the remainder of that day.

Link saw Lucy hand a present over to Natsu. He eagerly opened it to find a book.  
"Lucy, it's your novel?" He said  
"Yep, I decided you should be the first to read it."  
"but whats with the title?" He asked "My knight in shining armour?"despite his density he slowly figured out what she was insinuating. He hugged her tightly, speechless, by this point the whole guild was silently watching eagerly waiting. But to Natsu and Lucy it was as if they weren't even there. "Hey Lucy, you wanna go out with me?" Every person was glued to the scene, all the women, and Elfman, were almost in tears. "Of course I will silly." Lucy announced leaping on the dragon slayer and kissing him on the lips. The whole guild roared in approval cheering at the top of their lungs. "About damn time." Gray yelled. Markarov's eyes overflowed with joy. Juvia was happily clapping for the newly announced couples and was starting to get ideas of her own. Lucy looked over to Link who was clapping and grinning widely. Lucy gave him a wink.  
"Did you have something to do with this Link?" Erza asked sitting next to him.  
"Nope, I did nothing at all." he replied. Erza chuckled at his obvious lie.

Later that evening Link stood on the guilds balcony looking out over Magnolia, the city was lit up like the night sky. It was truly a stunning sight. His hand was fondling with the final present he had to give away. In truth he was extremely nervous, for the once wielder of the triforce of courage giving a gift seemed beyond him. Erza was creeping up behind him hardly making a sound, ready to make him jump.  
"Evening Erz." He announced hiding the present in his coat.  
"Damn, how did you know?"  
"I didn't really, just a lucky guess."  
"Hmm… It really is beautiful isn't it." Erza said gazing out at the city, "Hey Link I still haven't given you your present. It was pretty hard for me to find something but I think this will be useful in the future. She held out a badly wrapped present. It was small, around the size of a jewellery box, Link thanked Erza for the gift and quickly unwrapped it. Inside a black velvet box was a small golden band that would fit around Link's wrist, embossed in the band was a white crystal the size of a small marble.  
"It's a Lacroma band, you can store magic power in it to call on later, I had it made specially for you." Erza said waiting for a response.  
"Erza, it's great." Link replied placing the band on his left wrist. He could feel it on his skin, it felt like an empty well waiting to be filled with power. He could feel how he could transfer energy between him and the lacroma. He let a small amount of energy into the lacroma and it faintly glowed green. He looked at Erza with gratitude and remembered his present.  
"Hey Erza, it's not wrapped but I do have a present for you." Erza's face perked up into a smile. Link reached into his coat and brought out the goddesses harp.  
"Link, you can't give me that. It's too valuable to you." Erza protested.  
"That's precisely why I want you to have it. I spent all day yesterday looking for a present for you and nothing came close to what I wanted. In the end I decided I should give you this, back on my adventure this harp played a pivotal role every time I heard it's ring it made me remember that no matter how hard everything was no matter how much evil I had to fight there was still beauty in this world it was always the item that inspired me to carry on no matter what happened. It is my most prized possession and I want you to have it." He handed over the golden harp to Erza who took it. Staring at its wonder. She was almost in tears. She brought Link close and hugged him tightly.  
"You realise I have no idea how to play this thing right?" Erza laughed.  
"Well I can teach you, it's not difficult, here let me show you."  
Link lifted the harp to his chest and showed Erza how to play. They spent the next two hours together taking it in turns in order to teach Erza, by the end of their session Erza could play it to a pretty good standard Link had taught Erza the ballad of the goddess and part of the song of the hero, she picked up the instrument very quickly, unlike when Link first got the harp himself, and was soon playing it incredibly well. There was no doubt she would surpass Link at this in no time.  
"Listen, Erza." Link's face had turned serious, he faced her as they sat on the roof, their legs dangling off the edge. "I have discovered the location of the third spell. It's called Naryu's Love."  
"Really where is it?"  
"I was told it lies in the largest Lake in Fiore."  
"That's easy it's right behind us." Erza said pointing at the enormous lake that stretched out behind the guildhall.

"Erza, I'd rather I went alone this time, I have an awful feeling about what we will find."  
Erza looked up resolute. "That's all the more reason to take me idiot."  
"Erza please." Link pleaded only to be replied by her unwavering stare. "Ok, I understand, just… If I tell you to hide, run or even if I tell you to abandon me and save yourself, I need you to listen to me and do it immediately, Ok."  
"Hmm, I can't make any promises, I don't want to leave you now and I won't want to later." _What am I saying she said she wouldn't leave a man who one day would have to leave her and return to his own time. _This was torture, she had told herself she had to not get involved with him because one day he would be gone but it was so hard.  
"Well then I guess I'm stuck with you." He put his arm around Erza and pulled her close. She rested her head on his shoulder. Erza's heart beat manically.  
"I guess you are." She almost whispered. "Happy Yuletide Link."  
"Happy Yuletide, Erz."  
They continued to sit together on that roof for the whole night, looking down to the twinkling city of Magnolia. Life was so peaceful, but how long could it last?


	14. Lake Sciliora

Chapter 14 - Lake sciliora

Hey guys, here's the next chapter. Link and Erza are finally going to go look for Naryu's Love. From what I've planned Im thinking this section will probably last until the end of Janurary but we will see.

Please review it's important I get your feedback and thank you to everyone who already has. I'd also like to thank everyone who is frequenting and folloing the story. Thanks for sticking with me!

See you soon and enjoy!

* * *

Two days later, Link was in the guild hall waiting for Erza to arrive. By now the Yuletide decorations were coming down and the guild was back to work after their short holiday. The newly coupled Natsu and Lucy had gone off on a 'job' together leaving poor Happy behind, no one mentioned the fact that Natsu was hiding a pair of skis behind him. Link wondered how he would handle skiing with his motion sickness but just shrugged it off.

Link thought to the mission ahead, Lord Francis said it was in the lake. This wasn't a huge problem for Link thanks to the Water dragon's scale but Erza may find it harder. He was glad he had stocked up on water breathing potions but didn't quite know how effective they would be. The other thing he had said would be that he would have to face his own darkness also confusing Link.

"Your sure up early, Link." Said a voice from below. Link looked down to find Markorov looking up at him.

"Well yeh, I've got a job." Link replied. Markorov's face went quite serious.

"Is it one of your more personal ones?"

"Um yes."

"Listen son, I need you to come with me it's quite important and your not going to like it." Link got worried but followed the small man to his office.

Erza entered the guildhall a couple of minutes later.

"Oh, Erza, if your looking for Link he is just with Gramps, I'm sure he will be out in a minute." Lisanna called to her. Erza walked over to her and Mira at the bar.

"With the master?" _I wonder why?_

"Yeh, it looked pretty serious but don't worry.

"Can I get you anything before you head down." Mira asked sweetly

"Um I'll just have a glass of water please."

"Of course,"

"So you going on another big adventure with Link then." Lisanna asked.

"Not really we're going diving in the lake behind the guild."

"Really, from what I've heard it's really deep no one has been able to touch the bottom?" Mira asked.

"Yes, I've heard."

"How are you going to get down surely you'd need to breath underwater."

"Well Link said he sorted it, I don't know how though I don't have any water breathing armours or equipment, maybe he is bringing Juvia along."

Link and Markorov entered the main hall they both had rather serious looks on their faces. They perked up quickly seeing Erza and everyone else.

"Morning Erza, you ready to go?" Link asked

"Of course." Erza replied.

"I guess you better go then. Good luck Link I'll see you when you get back." Markarov said.

"You too master. See you guys later." With that the party left the hall and headed towards the lake

"When did you get so chummy with the master?" Link just laughed and shrugged off the question.

Standing on the lake shore they could see how vast it was, the other side of the lake was a thin black line on the horizon. It was more like an inland sea than a lake. Snow had come up to the edge of the lake and ice had formed in more sheltered patches of water. Around them trees lay bare of their leaves and looked dead against background of the cloudy sky.

"Where do you suppose we start looking?" Erza asked.

"Things like this are always in the deepest part of the lake." Link suggested, looking at the ice cold water. Erza also felt rather reluctant about entering the lake in the middle of winter.

"Well then. Requip swim gear." Light shone around Erza who was stripped of her winter armour replacing it with a plain black bikini. Subconsciously she had chosen it to look good in front of Link but he wasn't paying much attention, much to her frustration.

Here Erza drink this." He handed her a bottle full of sparkling blue liquid. "It will allow you to hold your breath for longer."

"How long?" Erza looked cautious.

"an hour or two." Erza looked at Link's homemade concoction and wasn't entirely convinced. reluctantly drank half the bottle. She could feel her lungs inflating increasing their capacity it was an incredibly odd sensation.

"You ready?" Link asked. Erza gasped unable to speak and made an odd whale like noise, Link tried to hold it but simply couldn't and burst out laughing. Erza wasn't amused and bashed Link over the head. "Let's go then." Link waded into the lake flinching at the cold. Erza followed closely shivering at the cold waters touch. She followed Link closely, astonished at how clear and deep the water was, as they descended into the depths Erza noticed that Link, even in his heavy chain-mail and armour, was an incredibly strong swimmer.

They had been swimming for over half an hour now, Erza predicted they were nearing the centre of the lake. Above them was incredibly clear but below had taken a dark cloudy hue, it was quite disconcerting. Link's face was screwed up in a frown. She figured he was unsure if they were going in the right direction. He stopped and looked back at Erza then below. He dived into the darkness, incredibly quickly. Erza attempted to follow but Link was fading from her sight. She tried desperately to catch up but soon Link had vanished, she stopped and noticed she could no longer see the sky. Dark murk surrounded her she could not see anything but the odd blue hue of the water that surrounded her. Erza began to panic slightly how was Link going to find her in this mist.

To her relief, Link's friendly face appeared next to her after a minute. She punched him for leaving her but her motion was slowed by the water and became more of a nudge. Link looked excited and took her hand leading her down into the depths. Soon Erza saw why, the dark cloud faded away revealing thousands of golden twinkling lights surrounding a huge domed underwater palace. Strange humanoid fish people swam around the glittering palace elegantly dancing amongst the currents. Link and Erza continued to swim down towards the palace taking in the glorious sight, how had this remained hidden from the world after all this time? The palace was surrounded by huge gardens of coral which stained the floor in thousands of incredible colours. Shoals of fish and other marine life seemed to fly above the palace roof.

As they approached a small force of the fish creatures came up to greet them their spears pointed at the intruders. Link raised his hands in surrender he could tell these creatures were obviously intelligent and they were in no position to fight these guys, they must have been the ones to build this place. They were however being rather hostile, Erza figured it was due to the fact they weren't used to visitors. Suddenly, Erza felt her lungs contract. She let out a yelp which was drowned out by the water and released a large bubble of air. Link saw her and immediately swam over ignoring the spears. he removed his dragon-scale necklace and put it around Erzas neck holding his breath. Erza suddenly breathed again seeing Link with his cheeks puffed out. She looked over to the odd fish people, they seemed to be arguing about something. One pointed at her necklace, Link was beginning to struggle. The fish made their minds up and grabbed Link and Erza and dragged them down into the palace.

They made it just on time, They surfaced in an area filled with air rather than water. Link's face had turned as blue as the water and he choked heavily. Erza tried to rush to his side, but the fish men held her back and bound her hands in some strange seaweed. Erza got a good look at the room the walls were a deep blue, the floor was made of a beige marble with an assortment of shells trapped in the rock. A door was at the head of the room made from a white soapstone was cast open and a taller fish man entered the room.

"What in Nayru's name is going on here?" He yelled across the room.

"Intruders, General, but they have a rather… Special artefact." One man replied. .

"Intruders how? no one can get in or out of our domain without..." The general noticed the dragon scale necklace around Erza's neck "Ah...You state your name and business here." The general pointed at Erza

"My name is Erza Scarlett of Fairy Tail, we have come here seeking Nayru's Love." She said quickly still concerned about Link who was still coughing. The general frowned.

"Follow me, the prince will want to know about this and stop that boy blubbering." The general ordered. Erza was ushered towards the exit, leaving Link behind.

"Wait I'm not going without him." Erza protested but she felt the tip of a bronze spear on her back and was pushed on.

"Don't struggle and he will be kept safe unless the prince deems otherwise." A soldier said behind her. Erza surrendered angrily she didn't have much of a choice.

Erza and her guards winded through the palace eventually reaching a large door that seemed to be made of some porous stone.

"Right, when you get in here make sure you give your utmost respect to the prince. If you are the hero of legend we'll know it soon enough." Erza realised the mistake they had made, she was not the hero, Link was, she had just borrowed the scale.

Before she could protest the doors opened and the small group entered into an incredible throne room. Along the sides of the room were large benches that sloped up towards the wall, they were full of the odd fish people who were all loudly conversing among each other. As she entered she looked behind her to find the whole place was a huge amphitheatre filled to the brim with fish men. It was incredibly daunting it seemed the whole population had arrived for an open court and she was on trial. Just above the door Link stood on a balcony with his hands bound guarded by two other soldiers, she smiled and nodded at Link. She felt happy that he was safe for now but she noticed his sword had been removed. It didn't concern her very much anymore she knew he could probably summon it if he had to.

Erza stepped into the centre of the room and the crowd went silent. She felt thousands of fishy eyes on her back. She looked ahead to a large coral throne. She was incredibly surprised to find an incredibly young fish man in the chair wearing a fine silver crown. She assumed this was the prince but she didn't realise he would be so young he couldn't be more than ten years old by human standards. She was forced onto her knees in front of the prince. He stood up and approached Erza, he bent down and got a good look at her face she met his eyes.

"Who are you?" He said, his voice had hardly broken yet. Why was he on the throne?

"I am Erza Scarlett of Fairy Tail." She replied.

"Hey Jacob undo her ties she is no threat here." The prince ordered. The general obliged Erza stood up towering over the young prince.

"This is technically an interrogation but I can tell you're the real thing, I'm sure your as confused about us as we are you. So let me introduce us. My name is Prince Ruro. I am what is known as a Zora." Erza didn't seem any more confident. "If you have that necklace that means you are the Hero of legend." Erza was about to protest but Ruro interrupted her. "Unfortunately we are going to need a bit more proof. You are supposedly incredible in combat I would very much like to see it so," the prince raised his voice. "I decree if you defeat the Zora champion we will believe you otherwise we will be forced to deem you intruders and spies in which we will have to execute you." The crowd cheered and Erza looked incredibly surprised it was a rather brash decision, did this kid know what he was doing? She hadn't been given a breath, she wasn't the hero of legend Link was. She looked back at him, he shrugged.

She instantly knew she didn't have a choice. "Very well." She bowed slightly as the prince skipped back to his throne, the general and his soldiers joined him. A weapons rack was produced for Erza by another Zora soldier. She held out her hand refusing the weapons much to the crowds astonishment. The prince looked excited and bounced up and down on his throne. The door Erza had entered from opened again. A tall muscular Zora entered the room wielding a long bronze spear. He was dressed in slightly more ornate armour than the soldiers she had met and looked incredibly skilled in combat. He approached Erza and bowed politely. Erza returned the favour. The Zora got into battle position raising his spear above his head, Erza stretched her arms hooking them across her chest as if she were preparing for a race. The champion chuckled at the woman in her bikini, she had no hope if she was unarmed. The prince raised his hand and brought it down initiating the battle.


	15. The Champion of the Zoras

Chapter 15 - The Champion of the Zoras

I really enjoyed writing this chapter especially the fight scene which has turned out fantastically so i really hope you enjoy it. I should also let you know that i am currently rewriting most of chapter 5 (Erza and Link's fight) as I was never 100% happy with it that should be out at some point this month hopefully.

Don't forget to review and all the other stuff it helps keep me motavated so please keep it up.

Thanks Everyone!

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The Zora champion ran forwards and went for a swift uppercut with the butt of his spear. Erza yelled "requip adamantine armour." Her body glowed and her bikini was replaced with her bulky adamantine armour. Her large dual shield came together and deflected the blow as if it were just a tooth pick. The Champion was incredibly surprised at her use of magic, and jumped back returning into battle position. Erza switched to her Heavens Wheel armour and summoned two blades. The crowd of zoras were already totally entranced.

The Champion grinned, if she could use magic so could he. He twisted his spear and bright blue lightning shot up the rod from his hand cloaking the shaft and blade. He charged again and went in for the attack. Erza deflected the spear with her sword but received a sharp shock as the lightning jumped up her own sword stinging her hands. That ability would be difficult to defend against underwater she could see why he was the champion, however Erza had dealt with electricity before. She managed to land a kick on the Zora sending him back and giving her room. "Requip Thunder Empress armour." She became clad in a new suit of armour. It was pale blue decorated with gold and white trimmings. The armour mainly covered her chest, shoulders and shins with a white decorative cloth hanging down from her breastplate to her knees. Her hair was magically tied into a long braid and was adorned with a yellow headband with bows on each side of her head. She summoned her lightning rod that crackled with electricity just like the Zora's. The blade on the spear was long and a large disc lay as a guard on the spear resembling a small shield. She brought the spear back matching the Zora's own position.

The Zora grinned and charged, the pair met in a flurry of attacks, each taking damage from the static charge their spears were producing. The air seemed to flicker with electricity and the excitement of the Zora crowd. Erza could hear Link cheering loudly from the stand, hearing his voice filled her with confidence. Erza eventually got the upper hand and staggered the Zora. Erza went in for a final blow but the Zora managed to defend just on time casting him back towards the main door. The Zora's eyes were now full of rage he was losing and he knew it. He held up his spear and electricity discharged from the tip. He brought it down and pointed it at Erza, a magic seal glowed in front of him and lighting was cast out, it catapulted towards Erza with incredible speed. Erza span her spear around in front of her forming a shield made of lightning in front of her. The shield absorbed the strike charging the spear far above capacity. "Well thank you very much." Erza confidently said. She leapt into the air and held out her spear. The tip opened up and electricity built up between the blades. "Lightning beam." Erza yelled. Lightning shot out of the spear with twice the magnitude released by the Zora. The Zora ran underneath the beam he had to slide to avoid the impact. The beam hit the doors blasting them to smithereens. Link had to hold up his bound hands to shield himself from the shockwave. At the far end of the hall prince Ruro beamed at the sheer intensity of the fight Link could tell he was having the time of his life.

The Zora used his momentum and propelled himself up to meet Erza in midair, he managed to strike her before she could make a move throwing her back down to the earth below. Erza winced in pain on the floor, in a split second she predicted his next move and held out her spear in order to defend a finishing blow from the sky. She had predicted correctly and the Zoras spear met the round hilt of her own which cracked on impact. Erza cursed and kicked the Zoras legs out from under him getting herself up in the process. She retreated with her back to the prince. The champion stood up and prepared himself for Erzas next attack. Erza jumped forward lunging at the Zora he sidestepped the attack and blocked Erza's consecutive side swing. He pushed her spear out of the way and swung round to hit her side she dodged deftly out of the way slashing upwards. The Zora once again dodged, the Zora had the advantage of speed that Erza had replaced with defence. The spears clashed repeatedly each combatant looking for an opening. Erza had to finish this, she dealt a heavy horizontal blow, the Zora somersaulted backwards avoiding the attack. Erza threw two more heavy swings both of which he dodged then returned with a quick jab towards one of Erza's legs. Erza sidestepped allowing her greaves to deflect the blow and leave the Champion open. Erza struck the back of his legs with her shaft knocking the champion to his knees and then pushed him onto his back pointing her spear at the Zora's throat. The crowd was now silent, the room felt static. The tension was difficult to bear.

Prince Ruro stood up from his throne and applauded at Erza's victory, it was merely a second before the whole host of Zoras stood up and joined the applause all of them cheering and whooping. Erza relaxed and held out her hand for her fallen opponent he took it gratefully and was raised to his feet. "My lady, You are truly an incredible fighter, I am honoured to have fought you." The Zora held up their linked hands declaring the victor of the battle. Link smiled and nodded at Erza when they caught eyes as he joined in the the applause. The Zora champion soon let go of Erzas hand picked up his spear and walked off through the broken door. _I never found out his name_. Erza thought as he left. She turned around to be greeted by the young prince.

"That was… AWESOME!" The child announced his eyes sparkled but soon regained his composure. "I would ask for you to come to my solar we have business to discuss. The green one will come as well." Erza bowed at the prince who left the hall as well.

"This way." The general gestured. Erza requiped into her heart krauz armour and followed closely.

They entered the solar five minutes later, Link was already in there messing around with an odd candle that burned blue. When Erza, Ruro and General Jacob arrived in the solar Link quickly stood to attention breaking the candle accidentally. He hid it behind his back before anyone noticed. Erza ran in to greet Link. "Hey Erz, good fight."

"Thanks, I guess it stopped us getting killed but It felt just like I was back at the grand magic games."

"So your friend is?" Ruro asked.

"Oh this is Link, oh" she turned back to Link "and thank you for saving me underwater I would have returned the scale after I'd got a breath but you know, fish people."

"It's fine I'm still alive aren't I" Link said.

Ruro was not enjoying being ignored. He scowled at Erza and coughed drawing her attention back.

"Erza, we have a gift that is passed down by the Zora's onto the Hero of Legend, here this is for you." The general produced a set of blue and bronze scaled armour. A hat similar to Link's lay on top along with an odd bronze contraption. "This is Zora armour specifically made for you. It will allow you to breath and swim underwater like we do." The Zora explained. Link and Erza looked at each other awkwardly.

"Urm actually I'm the actually Hero of Legend, she is my…" Link paused unsure as to what to say. "Um she's just a friend." Erza almost continued his sentence in her head allowing her fantasies to take hold but was interrupted when Link continued himself she was a bit disappointed with what he said. "But you won the fight." he directed at Erza "you deserve the armour. Besides I don't think it will fit in my pouch."

Ruro sighed "so your not the Hero?"

"No." Erza replied

"He is?"

"Yes"

"Well I guess you don't really deserve this then."

"Hey I said it's hers she won the fight. Unless you want me to kick your champions ass again." Link protested.

"Link, how dare you view our fight that way, the Zora champion was a fine combatant say something like that again and there will be an ass kicking." Erza said menacingly whilst cracking her knuckles.

"even so your the one that should take the..."

"Argh fine just take the damn armour. You guys are hurting my head." Erza took the armour gratefully it would be fine addition to her collection.

"Now I have a favour to ask you, there is no doubt you are looking for Naryu's Love correct?"

"Yes, that's why we're here." Link replied

"Well I can tell you where it is but it's quite dangerous. There is a temple to the south of the palace, it is a sacred place for the Zoras but recently we believe there was an intruder. The whole temple reeks of darkness and strange monsters keep appearing. My mother Queen Ruto went into the temple a week ago with some of our finest troops but she hasn't returned, I fear for the worst. Please, I need you to go in there, I know your strong enough, please find my mother." Tears filled Ruro's eyes as he pleaded to the two mages. Link stepped forward and put a hand on the princes shoulder.

"Thank you for telling us. We'll be back soon with your mother I promise." Ruro looked up into Link's eyes and smiled wiping his eyes. "Erza let's go."

A good while later Link and Erza were floating in front of the temple entrance. It was made of the same stone as the palace and was incredibly ornate. The temple had once been surrounded by vibrant coral however they now all looked a ghostly white making the temple quite eerie, there was also a distinct lack of animal life as well as seaweed. It was quite obvious something was not right here. Erza had put on her new Zora armour and had performed the requipping ritual allowing her to summon it whenever. The armour allowed her to breath indefinitely underwater and allowed her to swim with the skill and elegance of a Zora however she would have a greater weakness to fire and ice. It really was a fantastic addition to her collection. Link was again wearing his dragon-scale necklace it didn't have water-breathing capabilities of the Zora armour and Link would have to breath every now and then but he had seen numerous air pockets so far so he assumed he would be fine.

Even so they now faced the problem of actually getting into the temple. The door was sealed shut. The pair began to investigate the structure swimming around the base to find some kind of switch or lever, they had little success. It was when Link swam up to the rather explicit statue of a mermaid he noticed his scale begin to glow a bright blue. Looking at the statue he saw a necklace carved into the stone on the mermaid, it was however missing a stone for the centre piece which was shaped like a tear drop. He swam up to the necklace and his began to glow brighter. Taking the scale he inserted it into the mermaids necklace, it was a perfect fit. The mermaids eyes flashed blue and there was a rumbling the statue began to turn. All of a sudden a huge set of currents surrounded the temple creating an incredible maelstrom, Link had to pull the mermaid into a tight embrace as the scale had bonded tightly with the mermaids and he had to avoid being swept away by the currents. The situation made him quite uncomfortable as a cold stone nipple dug into his chest. As the mermaid continued rotating the currents began to focus into one stream, it collected together and directed itself towards the entrance of the temple blasting the stone doors open. The mermaid returned to it's original position and the currents died out releasing Link's scale. Erza sighed in relief she had been holding onto a large piece of coral to avoid the currents she hadn't realised but it had been a lot weaker than she anticipated and seemed to have been eroding away under her hands when she released it it was twice as thin as it was before and no longer looked as stable.

Erza swam over to Link and signed to see if he was ok, he returned the gesture confirming he was fine and then looked down into the temple. Once again a long dark stairway led down into an abyss. Erza looked over to Link, large frown lines had appeared on his forehead again. He's worried, she realised. She swam over and placed her hand on his shoulder surprising him. Link looked back at her originally smiling but seemed to remember something and shrugged her off. Erza grew suspicious, he was shunning her. Why, she couldn't figure out. Link closed his eyes sadly and swam off down the staircase, Erza followed close behind.


	16. A Temple full of Darkness

**Chapter 16 - A Temple full of Darkness**

**So to me this chapter felt a bit rushed especially the last bits it wasnt particularly easy to write if I'm honest. Still i hope it's a good chapter and that you guys enjoy it.**

**please follow and favourite for more of the story and Please, Please, please leave a review.**

**Thanks and Enjoy!**

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They soon left the staircase and arrived in what felt like an enormous cavern, the pair couldn't really tell as the whole place was pitch black. They could barely see each other in the murk of the water. There was, however, a single tiny white light far down at the bottom of the great cavern. Link and Erza looked at each other, it was possibly a trap but it was their only lead.

The pair swam down towards the light which was slowly but surely getting closer. Erza was leading, she knew if it was a trap she wouldn't be able to protect herself in the water even with the Zora Armour which had greatly improved her agility underwater. Their biggest problem was that they had no way to defend themselves underwater their weapons would just be too slow and magic was more of a risk than not. Erza eventually reached the light with Link soon catching up. The light was inset into the rock and illuminating a very small area. Link and Erza could however now see each other. Mustering his resolve Link reached out and prodded the light, it was gelatinous but firm. The moment he released his hand the light began to glow with more intensity, Link swam back preparing himself for the worst.

Less than a moment later a second light appeared a few metres away followed by another behind that. It wasn't long before there was a whole string of lights making what looked like a stunning constellation in the depths of the lake. The ground below them began to rumble and the lights began to trail away from Link and Erza following one another in a long chain. Putting on a brave face Erza stood her ground and prepared herself for what was coming. The string of lights grew even brighter illuminating the cavern around them and revealing a long snake like body, what Link and Erza had thought to be rocks were in fact enormous stoney scales. The final lights flickered on directly in front of Link and Erza, these final lights were on long stalks that illuminated the horrifying face of the monster. It appeared to be an enormous eel, it's eyes were frightening and looked hollow and dead but that wasn't the worst part for as the eel opened it's mouth it revealed a set of long needle like teeth. The eel lunged at Link and Erza who swam away as fast as they could, missing the maw of the monster my mere inches. The slipstream of the beast cast them away from the body of the eel, Link barely managed to avoid the tail of the beast as it swung over his head. The giant eel swam up the chamber and circled round what looked to be an enormous pillar. But what was far more repulsive was what its light illuminated on the walls of the cave. Thousands of metre wide barnacles were attached to the wall each sporting a smaller eel. This was a giant nest. The smaller eels began to detach themselves off the wall and began swimming towards the intruders.

It wasn't long before the behemoth of an eel came charging at the pair again with twice the velocity of before. Link and Erza prepared themselves waiting for the opportune moment. The leviathan sped at them heading downwards towards them with its mouth gaping wide. The single moment before it was too late the pair swam to opposite sides and the eel went right between them head-butting the floor beneath them. It screeched as it quickly recovered and swam away preparing for a second strike. It's long body trailed along the floor. That was when Erza noticed something, there was something metal that was reflecting the light of the eel. She swam towards it and found an stone disc around a metre wide with a dome in the centre, the whole thing was attached to the floor. Bands of bronze ran around the central dome forming a complex maze of rails. Link was playing matador with the eel distracting it from Erza but it would not be long before the smaller eels arrived. Erza had to figure this out quickly.

She placed her hand on the dome in the centre and a bronze lever was thrust up on the outside of the disc where as the dome swung upside down leaving a flat surface where the lever was supposed to go. This was reasonably simple she just had to get the lever to the centre. She didn't know what it would do but it was a clue. The ground shook as the enormous eel smashed into the ground again. Erza grabbed the lever and began to pull, she cursed when she discovered it was hardly moving it felt like it had been jammed. Erza looked to Link the eels were very close to him and he was swimming in random directions trying to shake them off. Erza mustered every ounce of strength she had and pulled the lever round the puzzle. After a final heave it finally locked into place in the centre of the disc she pulled the lever triumphantly. The disc began to break up revealing a large hole, water began to be sucked into the new drain Erza grabbed onto a rock to stop herself being pulled in. Fighting the current she didn't even notice the large eel was on a collision course towards her. The eels trajectory was skewed by the new current and the leviathan smashed into the ground next to her throwing her away, the eel was pulled into the plug blocking it and stopping the flow of water, it snapped at Erza as she was thrown to the side catching only a few of her hairs. Erza took her chance she dashed towards Link who was wrestling with a fair number of smaller eels. Grabbing him by the collar he pulled him out of his predicament. They swam up the chamber the very top was now empty of water. A swarm of eels were snapping at their heels and the giant eel had somehow managed to escape its imprisonment and was now swimming right towards them. The duo swam with all their might and eventually reached the surface. The huge pillar in the centre served as their rescue, they clambered on and rolled away from the waters edge which was now a torrent of hungry little eels. The huge eel bursts out of the water and smashed down onto the pillar leaving a large dent in the shape of its head before slipping back into the water.

Erza relaxed, totally out of breath, she turned to look at Link, the first and only thing she saw was patches of red oozing through his green tunic. Erza panicked Link was barely conscious and was grasping an unopened bottle of heart potion. Erza sprung back into action uncorking the bottle and forcing it down Link throat. He coughed covering Erza's hand in the potion but managed to drink most of it before he became totally unconscious. Erza pulled his tunic off awkwardly and watched intently to make sure his wounds were actually healing. He was covered in bite marks from the smaller eels but most were fading and being replaced with a new untanned layers of skin. Erza relaxed slightly as she heard Link's breath calm. She summoned a set of bandages to cover the wounds that were not completely healed. Despite his awful condition Erza could not help but admire Link's physique, his muscles rippled as he breathed. There was no doubt his body had been perfectly conditioned to the sword by his last adventure. Scars dotted his body each telling their own painful story. Erza had known the very basics of Link's adventure but had never found out the details. Questions filled her mind, did he do all of it alone? How must he have survived? What monstrosities gave him such scars?

Erza sat back and let a long breath out trying to calm herself down and diffuse her ever spinning mind, she could now take in a good view of her surroundings. She was sat on a circular pillar around 20 metres wide that sat just above water level. The chamber she was in was large and rocky, water fell out from bronze drainage pipes in the walls keeping the water level constant. The room was lit by braziers along the walls casting golden light across the room. Around the edge were four exits connected to the pillar by bridges on the north, south, east and west of the room. The northern door was in fact the staircase they had come from, however unlike the other doors this exit had no bridge meaning if they meant to go back that way they would have to swim through the sea of carnivorous eels. Erza shuddered as she saw the large serpentine body of the giant eel breach the surface of the water before slinking back into the depths. So long as they were on the pillar they were safe. Erza noticed that they were actually sitting on a large mosaic. The centrepiece was a collection of three yellow triangles the same symbol that was on Link's hand. He had never quite explained what it was and its significance if she could remember correctly she seemed to remember it being called the Triforce.

Link stirred groaning, his whole body ached the way it does after being healed. He held his head which was throbbing in pain. Erza quickly rushed to his side.

"Link are you alright?" She asked, she sounded like a worried mother.

"I'm fine don't worry it'll take more than a few eels to get the best of me." He chuckled.

"Don't joke they very nearly killed you," Erza said sternly. "I'm sorry if I had gone faster this wouldn't have happened." Link looked at her and was about to protest but the voice of Markarov in his head told him differently. He sighed cursing his situation.

"We should get going." He said taking in his surroundings.

"Right." Erza said, she frowned at Link, he certainly wasn't himself today, he knew something. She thought back to when he and the Master entered the guildhall this morning. Whatever was happening she needed to know. She was about to inquire but Link had already set off towards the first door.

Erza quickly caught up as they crossed the bridge and entered the room. It was far darker in here than the other room, Link brought out a lantern illuminating the room. It was incredibly simple, water surrounded a plain stone pillar that was much smaller than the previous room around eight metres across. Just as Link stepped onto the pillar he vanished.

"Link?" Erza announced. She stepped forward onto the pillar and a crude black monolith rose in the centre of the room. Erza walked up and touched it, it swung open like a coffin revealing a misty black cloud.

"It reveals your darkest fear." Erza heard Link say. She understood the spell now, they were invisible to each other but they could still hear each other, Erza could also see the light from Links lantern. Her focus changed to the black mist. My darkest fear? The mist began to take shape it fell low to the ground, Erza blinked. Her eyes opened to the view of a fully nude Ichiya of blue pegasus laying out on the floor his hands crossed in his standard pose. His deep voice echoed through the room as he announced the word "Men." Erza screamed louder than she'd ever had before and viciously kicked the man sending him flying. Ichiya hit the wall and dissipated. Erza clutched her heart and the fear fuelled adrenaline cooled down. Focusing on reality she heard Link fall to his knees. He simply whispered "No." Erza heard him sob.

Erza realised what was going on, "Link? Whatever you can see it's just an illusion. Relax I'm right here." Erza attempted to comfort him but his sobs got louder. The next thing she heard was him roar. "You bastard." She heard his feet move rapidly, what could he see? He abruptly stopped. She felt his breath on her neck. "An illusion. That's all this will ever be. You hear me!" He was shouting now his presence further away from her. "I will never let this happen, don't even try because I will stop it matter what now get this out of my fucking sight."

With that Link arrived back in Erza's view, his sword was in his hand and his face was tear stained and in a furious grimace. Erza was shocked by the spectacle she had never seen Link like this. "What did you see?" She asked quietly.

"It doesn't matter." Link turned away and sheathed his sword before he left the room without even looking at her. Erza was kinda sad he didn't trust her but decided it was his business not hers. She went back into the main chamber she noticed the first triangle of the triforce had lit up. That meant similar trials remained in the other rooms.

Before Erza could say anything they were in the next chamber. This time they could still see each other, a monolith rose in the centre and Link touched it. Light swirled around them and they found themselves in a small arena. Above them in the audience was a large man wearing a cruel grimace. "Welcome to the Arena of Wisdom combatants. If you wish to leave this place alive you must simply defeat my puppet. See you on the other side." Out of the sky dropped an enormous knight, he wielded a sword and shield just like Link and wore black armour embellished with gold trimmings. Link unsheathed his sword and Erza requiped into her heavens wheel armour. They began their onslaught and slashed at the man with incredible speed there was no way their hits would miss. The knight blocked the onslaught effortlessly and threw the pair of them back. This didn't sit well with Erza the knight's reactions were too fast, the issue was they were fighting in an illusion so anything in here could be made totally invincible and still harm you. The other thing she didn't understand was why it was called the Arena of Wisdom, this fight isn't as simple as it looks. Erza parried a blow and dodged out the way of a second. Link seemed to be holding his own. There had to be some trick to this, Erza thought back to what the arena master said. We have to defeat his puppet? Erza looked up and sure enough above the knight there were a collection of strings. Erza grinned and jumped back requiping into her flight armour she leapt into the air with explosive energy and slashed at the strings with a small dagger that matched her armour. The knight collapsed momentarily before the strings magically repaired themselves and the knight attacked again with a harsh horizontal slash that would have easily got Link if he hadn't managed to roll away. Erza found this odd as well why didn't he use Farore's Wind that would be a much simpler method.

"Hahaha you have the right idea lass but you will have to strike higher up the string." The arena master laughed heartily.

"Anymore bright ideas Erza?" Link asked. Erza's mind was running a mile a minute her frustration was very nearly at breaking point and began to cloud her mind. She frantically considered his riddles. She looked at the arena master again and he smirked at her as he caught her eyes his fingers were spidering over thin air, it was as if he were playing a piano… Or controlling a puppet. Erza realised what this meant. As she was weighing up her morals she saw Link receiving a vicious shield bash. She didn't have much of a choice. Requiping back to her heavens wheel armour she waited for the knights next attack. Entering a state of calm she jumped onto the moving arm of the large knight and was flung towards the arena master. He laughed as she approached. She sliced through the mans neck, he choked coughing up blood that splattered on her face. He grinned a bloody smile as his eyes dulled. Erza closed her eyes in _calm. Who's making these messed up trials?_ The illusion faded around them and the found themselves in what the room used to be.

"These trials are based on the triforce, we've had courage and wisdom, next is power." Link announced.

"Triforce?"

Link sighed "To put it simply it is a gift from the goddesses, Farore, Din and Naryu, each piece of the triforce has an attribute: courage, power and wisdom. Anyone who touches the complete triforce is granted a single wish if they are pure of heart. Since I returned it to the sacred realm three thousand years ago huge wars have been fought over it. Back in my time both me and a friend wished on the triforce and have received its blessing." Link held up his hand showing her the imprint the triforce left on him. "That's about all I know, I don't know where it is currently I have heard it's been lost for centuries so I don't think it's with the master sword but it is possible. It is also likely the reason why I'm in this time, to protect it from evil."

"So if the trials are based on the triforce next is power."

"Yeh, but these trials are pretty dark so I'd be wary. Shall we go?"

Erza nodded and they left the room.

One last door stood in their way. Link and Erza stood in front of it both had their swords drawn, Erza was still in her heaven's wheel armour. Link stepped forward and the door burst open expelling a huge amount of black smoke. Link shielded himself as a flash of metal struck his shield and threw Link back. Erza retreated to Link's side wary of what had dealt the attack. There was a humanoid shape in the mist, he turned and began to walk over the bridge. The man was as black as the smoke surrounding him. Erza gasped as Dark Link stepped out of the mist.


	17. Link vs Dark Link

**Chapter 17 - Dark Link**

**Here we are the big boss of the water temple i should tell you all that this chapter would be no where near as good without justafanwritter2015's review. It added exactly what was needed and i loved writing it so a big thanks is owed. I hope you enjoy the chapter and feel free to review, fave and follow for more.**

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The red eyes of the doppelgänger drilled into Erza and struck fear in her heart. The trial of power was obviously to defeat this Dark Link. He now stood on the pillar and was wielding a perfect copy of the blade she had given Link as well as his shield, they were both however black like his body. He smirked with evil intent, Erza never thought she would see Link pull such a sadistic face. She shook her head, this was not Link this was something else entirely. She looked over to Link, his face had flooded in confusion but what struck Erza was it looked like he was seeing an old forgotten friend. Link's face hardened.

"You ready Erza." She heard Link say next to her.

"Let's go." Erza replied. She requiped into her heaven's wheel armour and charged ahead of Link. She swung at Dark Link who blocked with his shield. Before Dark Link could offer a counterstrike Link attacked forcing him to parry and lose his balance. Erza was just about to land a blow when their enemy flew into a savage spin attack; both Erza and Link managed to block but were easily knocked back. Dark Link ran forward and attacked Link, as they clashed sparks flew from their blades. Dark Link bashed his light counterpart with his shield causing him to stagger but before he could land a blow Erza blocked his downward strike and locked his sword with a second of her own. Dark Link began to pull away so Link took his chance to attack, he slashed twice horizontally along Dark Links chest before piercing the ground with his sword producing a shockwave that released Dark Link from Erza and threw him back. Two deep slash marks on Dark Link's chest oozed with glowing red liquid, he stood up straight and looked to the sky, his body tensed as his wounds closed up.

Erza cursed, before she could react a hook-shot grappled one of the wings on her armour and she was quickly pulled towards Dark Link who was pointing his sword at her ready to impale her. Erza quickly requiped into her heart krauz armour and was released from the grip of the hookshot she spun deftly to avoid Dark Link's sword and attempted to strike his side. With a wisp of wind, Dark Link was gone and Erza was face to face with the real Link who was also about to strike Dark Link, both warriors bailed out their attacks and collided in midair falling into a heap on the floor. The Dark Warrior saw his opportunity and threw a dark bomb flower at the two. Noting the threat the pair separated just as the bomb exploded knocking them both to the side.

Erza cursed, she had landed far to close to the water for comfort, the water was still filled with thrashing carnivorous eels. Erza heard a yell and looked up to find Dark Link baring down on her from above, both of his hands were on his sword which was pointing at her in Link's standard finishing move. Erza rolled out of the way bringing herself to her feet, she performed a quick backflip and retreated to Link's side. Dark Link summoned a black flame in his shield hand and cast it forward towards Link and Erza. So he can use Farore's wind and Din's flame. Erza grinned, it seemed that Dark Link was a perfect copy of Link and had all of his tools and abilities but that meant she knew all of his moves.

Link dashed in front of Erza and held up his shield blocking the fireball as it exploded. He used the cover of the explosion to sprint forward and meet Dark Link in close combat. Light sword hit dark shield and dark sword hit light shield as the two Link's clashed in a whirlwind of combat. Only one thing could be discerned from their duel, the two swordsmen were perfectly matched which meant if Erza fought too they could easily overpower Dark Link. Erza requiped into her black wing armour summoning two duel blades she joined the attack. She sped towards the twin warriors keeping close to the ground, her blades glowed with silver light. As she got close to Dark Link she rose and gracefully spun striking his back with a moonlight strike that tore through his black chain-mail. Dark Link yelled in agony and Link raised his blade to the sky charging his sword he spun it round in his hand and brought it down on his dark self, the sword plunged into Dark Link's chest in a fatal blow. Dark Link fell limp and he slid off Link's blade.

Link sheathed his sword and relaxed he had been worried for a time, Link had known he'd had a dark side. It was a side that Erza had never seen before. The side that could stand above a pile of corpses without a hint of remorse. Link thought back to the sealed temple, the final battle, the swarms of moblins that he had torn apart and left to stain the grass crimson. On that day Link released all his fury on the monsters for the sole purpose of wanting to shove the master sword as far down ghirahim's throat as possible. This was the darkness that fuelled the dark form of himself. That monster was all his rage and fury manifested into reality. Link had thought he would have been harder to beat after all Dark Link was in fact Link at his most deadly. He and Erza walked to the centre of the room waiting for the third triangle of the triforce mosaic to light up. It didn't.

"Did we miss something?" Erza asked. Suddenly Link panicked and he looked round to where his counterpart fell. The dark body rose from where it lay and hovered above the ground. His wounds were gone, his smirk once again returned. His body was now shrouded by a shadowy mist. The fight was not over.

The dark mist fell from Dark Link's body and rolled across the floor of the room, to Erza's sheer disgust she could see the damp floor of the chamber being stained black. The water that lay on the floor began to gravitate towards a few central points where the dark liquid bubbled violently and began to rise creating black water spouts that were roughly seven feet tall. In an instant the dark liquid collapsed and fell, splashing into the ground and covering it. In their places stood a small army of Dark Links. These Links were slightly different to the original, their eyes were pale white and lacked pupils but they still held the same cruel grin as the original Dark Link. They charged.

Erza requipped into her Heavens Wheel armour. She called out to Link, "I'll take care of these ones you get the original." Link nodded to her. A magic seal opened in front of Erza and from it came eight swords, they began to spin and rotate about the centre and glow with magic energy. "Heaven's wheel!" Erza shouted. The blades followed her command and flew towards the Dark Links. They dealt a devastating blow cutting into the Dark Links and spraying the floor with red.

While the Dark Links were down, Link charged right through them towards the big boss, bringing out his bow he span and shot upwards to hit Dark Link as he floated. To his shock he noticed that Dark Link was also holding his bow, the arrows sailed towards each other and collided tip on tip shattering both shafts. Link fired three more shots in lightning quick succession. The arrows were all destroyed in a similar manner, Link changed tactics and brought out his whip and attempted to catch Link and bring him down again Dark Link matched him knocking his whip away with his own. Immediately after Dark Link was flying towards him ready to slash at Link. Link reached up for his blade and flooded it with magical energy the nanosecond Dark Link got close enough Link yelled "Mortal Draw!" The blade flew out it's scabbard as he struck Dark Link and threw him into the ground with enough force to make a crater. Unfortunately the sound of metal on metal meant that Dark Link had managed to defend. Link quickly swung his blade round and tried to finish Dark Link but only managed to hit thin air. He had used Farore's Wind, Link cursed as he suddenly felt conscious of the energy he had hidden inside the golden band, he was tempted to draw on it but decided better of it, if things went pear shaped after using the spells then there would be a huge problem for Erza. Link closed his eyes and tried to sense Dark Link's presence. Knowing what he was like when his Dark side came out, Dark Link preparing for a sneak attack but from where. Suddenly he felt it. Link jumped, his ankles narrowly avoiding a Dark blade. Dark Link stood up and their blades met. The pair stared into each others eyes, demonic red meeting feral blue both showing their absolute disgust in the existence of the other.

Erza was faring similarly in her fight against the other Dark Link's. She was now equipped in her black wing armour. Two of the five Link's charged at her. She quickly parried one of them before spinning round gracefully and striking the other with a second sword throwing him back. With a quick twirl she parried a third Link's strike whilst breaking through the first Link's defence and stabbing him through the chest. She was greatly out numbered but these copies were no where near as strong as Link or the original Dark Link, they seemed to lack Link's greatest strength which was his ability to assess situations and create a plan to assure victory no matter the disadvantage. These copies were literally throwing themselves at Erza only to be mowed down. The real issue was the fact that they had regenerative properties. Erza requipped into her purgatory armour and swung round with a mace like sword striking one of Dark Link's shields, the mace broke right through the fake shield striking the Link behind and breaking his spine, even so the shadow still got up and continued fighting. Erza could feel the strain of the fight on her, she looked around at the Dark Link's none of them even looked tired it wouldn't be long before she was overwhelmed Erza came up with a new plan of action.

She closed her eyes and called out to her pocket dimension "Requip Holy Light Armour!" As usual light surrounded Erza and then dissipated leaving her in a new set of armour. This armour was specifically designed for battle against creatures born of shadow. The armour was a heavy armour that was mostly gold with silver trimmings. Two large ornate gold plates covered her breasts leading down to a silver scales that covered her midriff, her sides also sported heavy golden plates leading down to a large metal scaled skirt that was open on one side revealing her heavily armoured legs. A large white cape surrounded her, attached by her pauldrons. Her hair fell down her back tied into a long straight ponytail with a metal weight at the end to keep it out of the way. One arm peaked out from under the cape and sported a long golden halberd with a silver blade (look up Chinese halberd for the blade design) This was a strong armour that she rarely had to use but in this case it would be the best thing.

Before the Dark Link's could attack she jumped into the air and held up the halberd which began to shine. "Holy Essence," she called. She fell back down to the floor with her halberd shining like a sun and began her onslaught. Erza looked like a dancer as she spun round with the halberd she was as graceful as a ballerina but as deadly as a demon. The halberd cut straight through the barrage of Dark Links and she didn't show them any mercy in the slightest, she cut to kill. With every strike the light of her halberd would burn through the darkness of the Link's completely obliterating them. They were totally helpless to her assault. She stuck the last Link in the belly and watched as the smirk on it's face burned away, the light consuming him. The instant he disappeared Erza could feel the strain of the armour she quickly requipped back into her heart krauz armour, the toll of wearing such a powerful armour forced her onto one knee. But her fight wasn't over yet.

Link was still fighting his dark counterpart in an intense clash of wills. Despite his fatigue Link soon managed to break through and cut Dark Link in the arm. Dark Link yelled in rage shadows surrounded his body and he retreated back into the air. The shadows took the form of large spikes and were thrust towards Link and Erza. Link ran forwards and slashed through the barrage. His sword ran through the shadowed spikes not effecting them in the slightest and so they struck him in numerous places.

Erza was shocked as he saw her friend clutch his chest where the magic had struck. Dark Link flew down with incredible speed, his sword was cloaked in darkness as he brought it down on Link preparing his victory blow. Link had no chance to avoid it whatsoever, not in his state. Erza ran ahead of Link requiping into her adamantine armour. The catastrophic force of the dark blade destroyed the shield before it could come together and Erza was blasted across the room she just stopped at the edge of the water unconscious.

Link saw Erza fall. His heart skipped a beat. She had just saved his life possibly at the cost of her own, he thought back to the trial of courage tears filling his eyes. Link ran to her side putting his ear to her chest. He sighed a breath of relief her heart was still beating. Link stood up and faced his foe. He remembered the words of Lord Francis before he died 'you will have to defeat the darkness in your own heart'. Link looked at his counterpart, the man who could strike down Erza and still grin sadistically, all the darkness inside himself in human form. Link closed his eyes golden light began to flow around Link. The light filled the green warrior up, granting him whole new levels of strength. The triforce on his hand glowed gold and his the fairy tail symbol shone on his other hand.

"There is darkness in my heart, I know that, but there is so much more inside my heart that you cannot even comprehend." Link addressed the doppelgänger.

He put his hands together in a powerful gesture preparing a spell. "Laughter, Joy, companionship… Love. I cannot allow you to take over my heart so I will crush you here and now with the divine wrath of the ones I love."

Dark Link began to run towards Link in defiance. Before he could even get close Link opened his eyes and shouted "Fairy Law!"

An enormous golden magic circle shone above the chamber filling it with blinding Light that burned through Dark Link's aura and blinded the warrior. Link walked forward and met his enemy, plunging his sword into him. "The light in my heart will always overcome my darkness." Link whispered as Dark Link slid off Link's sword and dropped into the water of the chamber where he was taken care of by the carnivorous eels. Link relaxed and fell to his knees as the magic circle above his head faded. Link knew that the fairy law spell had failed, he didn't have enough power to control it and now he was paying for it with his fatigue but that didn't matter, he had done it, he had conquered his darkness.

He sheathed his sword and ran over to Erza. Her eyes were open and she was smiling at Link. She held out her hand, Link took it also smiling. "Erza I'm so…"

"I know Link, it's over now." The final triangle began to glow and a small pedestal rose in the centre of the room a blue gem was inset in it. A yellow pixie came down from the ceiling. Link stood up to greet it.

"Lanaryu."

"It's good to see you again hero. You have proven your valour and cleansed this temple of darkness. You have truly proven yourself truly worthy of Nayru's Love."

Link walked to the pedestal and once again held his left hand over the crystal. A blue aura ran up his arm and for the final time the knowledge of a new spell filled his head.

"As you know, you now have the three keys to unlock the master sword from its slumber. Go now brave hero and may we meet again." Link smiled and nodded as the pixie faded.

Link turned to see if Erza was alright she was still struggling to move but was smiling at him. He fondled with the golden band she had given him, Erza hadn't yet noticed but there were now three colours that filled the lacroma green, red and now blue.

"That's spell number three then, now we can go and find the Master Sword right?" Erza asked as she picked herself up.

"Yeh I guess so, it's a shame I'm going to miss using this sword." He said.

"Well have you ever considered duel wielding?" Erza joked.

"Nah, I'm alright thanks. Still this fight did highlight some major flaws in my swordplay I'm going to have to iron out before I am once again worthy of the master sword. There were obvious openings in Dark Link's attacks that no doubt I have too."

"I'm sure you'll remove them soon enough." Erza reassured.

The chamber once again began to shake and the ceiling opened up into a large hole. The pillar began to shake and rose up through the ceiling. Very quickly the platform arrived a new room it was large and rectangular was very similar in style to the rooms at the palace. Erza slowly walked over to Link. Her muscles ached in protest, Dark Link's hit had been a lot stronger than she'd anticipated. Erza looked at Link to see a horrified face. Confused she followed his gaze until her eyes rested on the mutilated limp body of a female Zora lying in the centre of the room. The coral crown that rested on her head identified her. These were the remains of Queen Ruto.

"That took you longer than expected," The doors at the far end of the room opened. A short man walked towards them. His pale face was framed in contrasting black hair which matched his robes, his eyes were cold, dull and black.

"So you are the hero of legend…" he paused as if to assess Link. "No… You not the one who can stop me." He looked down to the ground and solemnly said "Natsu." He returned his gaze to the hero. "Unfortunately you are going to get in the way of my plans. I was planning to leave you but duty calls."

Link stared at the man. "Zeref." He simply said.

"I am sorry it has to be this way, but this world must end. The corruption of man runs far too deep." He paused and raised his hand towards Link. "Eliminate." Zeref's eyes glowed red and a dark wave erupted from Zeref, Link took out his sword and attempted to slash through it but it once again failed. Link and Erza were blasted back. Erza hit a wall and was once again unable to stand thanks to her earlier injuries.

Zeref walked towards Link who was shaking as he tried to stand his sword was in front of him. He reached for it but Zeref kicked Link over onto his back and placed a foot to his neck. His eyes colder than a grave, he bent down and picked up the sword. Erza panicked and attempted to stand up using all the strength she had left. Zeref cast a hand back and paralysed her with his demonic magic. "Your time will come… But not today… You can wait for the new age." He told her.

Zeref turned back to Link. "I truly am sorry." he said as he plunged the sword deep into Link's heart. Link looked over to Erza apologetically, in but a moment the light left Link's eyes and he fell limply to the floor and burst disappearing from the room. Zeref dropped Link's sword and walked to the exit.


	18. A Link Between Worlds

**Chapter 18 - A Link Between Worlds**

**Sooo you know in some shows they kill of the main character then come up with some bullshit excuse to bring them back... Urm...**

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Erza's eyes closed as they flooded with tears. The footsteps of Zeref were deafening in her ears. "No… Link... can't be dead. He… He's one of us… how?" Erza whispered to herself. Zeref disappeared and Erza was released from the spell holding her in place. She immediately opened her eyes and crawled frantically to where Link had fallen. She took up the sword she had once given him, it was still drenched in his blood. Her tears fell on the sword slowly washing the blood away as she held the sword embracing what was left of the green warrior.

A hand fell on Erza's shoulder surprising her. Erza looked up immediately. The shiekah Erza had fought at the Yuletide ball stood above Erza. Silently she pointed over to a golden band that lay on the side of the pillar they had used to enter the room. Erza stood up and walked over to it. The band was ornately decorated with a marble sized stone inset in it. Three colours, red, green and blue, filled the stone moving fluidly around each other. Erza let out even more tears unable to quell them. This was the gift Erza had given to Link on Yuletide just a few days ago. Link had left behind the gifts she had given him… Why? Was it some cruel joke, a way to say good bye?

"He knew didn't he." Erza turned to the shiekah. The shiekah simply nodded. Erza punched the floor shattering the marble tiles. "Why didn't he tell me!?"

"It was for your own good." The shiekah announced. Erza was shocked by this statement. Her eyes filled with rage and she charged the shiekah wielding Link's blade. She sliced through the shiekah who had substituted herself with an illusion. "Say that again, I fucking dare you." Erza challenged. "How could this be for my own good. Link is dead!"

"Erza calm down. please, don't make this worse than it already is. I'm here to help."

"I bet you knew as well." Erza yelled as tried to attack the shiekah again. As she got close the sheikah sidestepped her. "Erza you need to stop!" The shiekah commanded.

"Why? Why should I?!"

"Because Link's not dead… Not yet anyway."

Hearing this Erza fell to her knees. Unable to comprehend the last five minutes of her life she collapsed.

(...)

Erza woke up outside lying in the snow. She instantly regretted waking up as her peace had been interrupted by her most recent memories. She held her arm up to her eyes to find them already wet. She had been crying in her sleep. A blanket suddenly covered Erza.

"You'll catch a cold if to lie in the snow like that. Let's get to an inn we need to talk." Erza opened her eyes to see the shiekah standing above her once again. _What does she want? She doesn't know me, why is she helping?_ Feeling the bitter cold around her Erza merely nodded and followed the shiekah into a nearby town.

It was evening and the pub was filled with hearty laughs and cheers. Erza hated it, how could they be so happy at a time like this. The shiekah ordered a room for Erza. "Would you like anything to drink." Erza knew she shouldn't drown her grief in booze but temptation got the better of her.

"Something strong please." She asked. The shiekah got the drink and lead Erza to the room.

"I should probably introduce myself, I am Iris of the Shiekah clan. I have met Link twice now during his adventure and I assure you I am not your enemy."

"I know… I'm sorry for lashing out at you." Erza replied not making eye contact she was fiddling with the drink in her hands.

"It's fine I understand how you feel. Before we continue, yes I knew Link was going to be attacked today, so did Link. We are sorry it had to be this way."

Erza stared at the glass in her hands she was struggling to speak. "Surely we could have done something about it. Maybe if I'd have known..." Erza was about to cry again.

"Then you would have died for him." Iris finished, her voice was stern.

"No, you don't die for your friends, you live for for them." Erza was beginning to get angry again.

"But he's not just a friend is he." Iris stated. "Believe me I know more than anyone, you would sacrifice yourself in a heartbeat if it meant the one you love could carry on."

Erza sat their in shock. Guilt flooded through her as she realised it was true, she had spent time wishing it was her and not him, bargaining with whatever gods were out there. Everything Iris said was true. Her face relaxed and she looked away from the Shiekah in guilt.

"That's why Link didn't tell me."

"Yes, He knew he was going to be attacked and therefore prepared for it himself. Now Zeref thinks he is dead, which buys us time."

"Time to do what?"

"Time to save Link."

(...)

Link felt strange, he could feel the stone floor beneath him but it was oddly comfortable. Strange smells filled the air and he could hear faint sounds he had never heard before. It worked. He was alive. Link opened his eyes and could see he was lying sideways on the floor. Ahead of him were a set of bars, surrounding him were stone walls. There was minimal light but Link could see fine. All of a sudden he was very conscious of his body it felt different. He looked down… _Fur? How? _Link immediately attempted to stand up in surprise but fell back down immediately. His feet and legs had shrunk as well as his arms. He soon managed to stand on shaking legs, he looked down to find paws instead of hands and feet. His two front paws still held the fairy tail mark and the triforce that were present when he was a human. The ground felt incredibly close to his face, in the corner of his cell there was a small puddle. He slowly walked towards it stumbling along the way. As he looked into the pool his suspicions were confirmed. He had transformed into a wolf.

Link quickly got over the shock, thanks to fairy tail he was used to crazy inexplicable happenings. Link took in his surroundings. He was in a rather large cell and was chained to the wall by the ankle. He bent down and sniffed the shackle he could smell the iron inside it. His enhanced senses were going to take some getting used too. He began to tug on the chain. Figuring that wherever he was was probably not the friendliest place in the world. He heard a door open at the end of the corridor. Link retreated to the back of his cell and bent down ready to attack. Footsteps grew louder as whoever was coming approached the cell.

Time slowed as a redheaded woman stopped in front of Link's cell. Link recoiled as stood in front of him was Erza. _How did she get here? What was going on? _Link cursed the fact he could not speak.

"That symbol on your hand, you're a member of Fairy Tail yes?" Erza demanded an answer. Confusion flooded Link's mind surely she would know who was in Fairy Tail, then again as far as he knew there were no wolves in Fairy Tail. Link then began to see differences in the woman stood before her. This Erza looked far harsher than his Erza, she wore a black and grey set of bikini armour with a long cloth covering her leg and crotch. Her hair was long and wild totally unlike the hair he knew. Still this could be Erza their faces were practically identical this one even had the same scar on her cheek and her hair has been known to change when she requips this could just be a set of armour he hadn't seen. Even so she smelled different, almost exotic. Link nodded his head cautiously to answer her question.

"Are you by any chance from Earthland?" She asked. Link became even more confused what did that mean? Erza smiled evilly. "You've gotten yourself in quite the pickle wolf, this castle is rather hostile your going to have a hard time getting out on your own. Lucky for you I can get you out, but on one condition." Link turned his head to the side. Erza knelt down to his level and beckoned him close an evil glint shone in her eye. Link warily approached. She put her mouth next to his ear and whispered. "You must be my little puppy and only mine." Her sultry voice sent shivers down Link's spine. This definitely wasn't the Erza he knew. This Erza was… Sexy. Erza noticed Link's reaction. "Good, glad you agree." She opened the cell and walked in. Drawing her spear she pierced the chain near Link's foot causing him to flinch. The chain shattered releasing Link from the wall. Link heard a bell toll upstairs. "Humph, they've finally caught on. Well then boy let's go. Wait you are a boy right." Erza thought she immediately stopped walking towards the exit and ran at Link. She threw him onto his back and started scratching his tummy. Link felt incredible amounts of pleasure from it and began to writhe in her grasp,_ since when did belly rubs feel this good?_ "Guess you are a guy then, still a dog to me though." She taunted. Link was liking this Erza less and less. _where the hell did I end up? Why is Erza different? What's going on?_ Link sighed, his head hurt from thinking about it seemed his only real choice was to follow this Erza and see what happened.

(...)

"What?" Erza asked. To save Link from death, how?" Erza stared at the shiekah looking for any sign that this was a joke. Erza could see she was totally serious.

"I told you, Link is not dead, him and Markarov planned this out in order to save his life. They knew Zeref was hunting Link down so they came up with a contingency plan. If Link was to encounter Zeref he would fake his own death. This is why he didn't want you to come to the temple, it put you at risk once he was gone. To fake his death Markorov gave Link a special device which would create an instant clone of Link unfortunately when someone clones themselves the world becomes imbalanced so using it has some harsh side effects. The worst case scenario is that the cloning failed and Link is dead but we know this isn't the case as the band you gave him is still glowing."

Erza looked at the gift she had once given Link, sure enough the lacroma was filled with energy. The band had become a measure of Link's life force.

"Since he's still alive I believe the imbalance in this world that he created thrust him into an alternate dimension. A dimension you have visited before. Edolas."

Erza thought back to her adventure in Edolas remembering her counterpart and how odd the world seemed. Edolas no longer had any magic after what had transpired there. She wondered if Link would be alright.

"How do we get him back?" Erza asked.

"Well Edolas is parallel to Earthland, in both this world and that world there is a gateway to the sacred realm which in itself is it's own plane of existence that should serve as a link between worlds. This is also the place the Master Sword is kept which is what Link needs to defeat Zeref. However the doors to the sacred realm can only be opened from the outside. Link can open the gate on Edolas' side but once he is in the sacred realm he cannot open the Earthland gate. That is why he left the band behind. Inside that golden bracelet Link has stored the three spells, Farore's Wind, Din's Fire and Naryu's Love. So long as we have this bracelet we should be able to open the gate on Earthland's side."

"So we have to meet Link in the sacred realm."

"Yes there is however another issue. We may have to reach the sacred realm at exactly the same time as Link. The sacred realm can only keep it's gates open for a set amount of time once they are closed we are trapped and if we leave before it closes we may never be able to get in the same way again."

Erza was silent analysing the information regarding her new mission whilst fiddling with her still untouched drink.

"Well this was never going to be easy." Erza finally announced. She looked over to Iris. "What are you going to do now?" Erza asked

"I am here to assist you in anyway I can, that is the mission I was given by the goddess." Iris replied bowing slightly. Erza frowned she didn't quite know of she could trust her.

"How do you know all this stuff, did your goddess tell you?" Erza hadn't meant it to sound sarcastic but failed.

"No, I know all this because I was there when Link and Markarov made their plan." Iris stated. "You should also know if I had my way you wouldn't be involved and we could leave this to the professionals but there is one last thing you should know." Erza looked at the sheikah quizzically. "What?"

"In the event of Link's death or exile in Edolas he chose you to carry his legacy forward, you would become the Hero of Legend and wielder of the Master sword." Erza fell silent at this. Her eyes shadowed under her hair as she looked to the floor.

"That's fine then, because Link won't die, he will succeed and I will stay by his side the whole way." Iris smiled at Erza's comment.

"Well said Erza Scarlet. Now get some sleep. We've got a long journey ahead of us." Erza nodded and headed to her bed requiping into her sleeping gear. She lay down on the bed and thought forward to the day she would be reunited with Link

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**So there we go the next little bit is all set up. This chapter was hard to get right because realistic reactions to death are incredibly difficult to write so forgive me if you think it's unrealistic. Dont forget to fave follow and review and i will see you next week.**


	19. Edolas

**Chapter 19 - Edolas**

**i guess you all want to know whats happening with Link so here it is. "Link's adventures in Edolas/the dark world starring Mr. Tingle!" Woooo. (I'm in a wierd mood today)**

**Don't forget to follow, fave and review if you enjoy the story. :P**

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Link padded along behind Erza's double examining her from behind, even her gait and posture was different. Another thing that seemed odd was she was wielding a spear, sure Link had seen her use spears before but Erza had always preferred swords.

"I'm guessing you know my Earthland counterpart." Erza turned to face the dog. Link turned his head to the side looking confused. "You have no idea do you." Erza sighed. "I guess I should explain. You are currently in the dimension known as Edolas, this world is parallel to your world in a lot of ways including the people. Everyone who exists in your world has a counterpart in this one and vice versa. There are however differences between them for example scarlet it a soft version of me, the Jellal here is the king whereas in your world he is a convicted criminal. I am not the Erza you know I am Erza knight-walker so don't expect me to start acting all mushy like Scarlet." Link was rather surprised at the last bit. Cogs turned in his head as he went over what Erza had said. "Now your getting it, good boy!" Erza said sarcastically, while rubbing his head. Link suddenly heard footsteps. He jumped out from under Erza's hand raising his heels and growling in the direction the steps came from.

"You hear something boy." Erza stood her eyes watching the corridor. A small platoon ran into the corridor halting when they saw Erza and Link. "Fantastic, I was just getting bored, hang back wolf, enjoy the show."

Twirling the spear above her head Erza prepared herself for combat. She charged, before the guards knew what was coming Erza had pole-vaulted over the whole platoon to the men at the back. Keeping close to the ground she spun knocking the back few to the ground using the butt of her spear. The fallen soldiers bellowed in pain holding their knees like children. With increasing speed she continued her onslaught against the soldiers bashing them in the face with the spear shaft or winding them with swift jabs of her spear. Despite not having a huge amount of room in the corridor Erza was coping just fine using her long weapon and had soon taken care of all the soldiers.

She stopped her rampage with the last man ending in her original combat position. Link looked at the female warrior noticing that not a single bead of sweat adorned her forehead. She brought her spear up slouching against it. She looked at Link and laughed. "Shows over wolfboy, let's go."

After climbing numerous staircases and chasing off various platoons, Link and Erza soon reached daylight. They stepped out into a large courtyard, many soldiers were running round searching for the intruders, the area in total chaos. Erza sighed "Behold the Empire's great army." The sarcasm was incredibly obvious and in fairness Link had to agree with her, this wasn't an army, it was a circus. Erza walked through the courtyard Link following closely behind. No one bothered them everyone was to distracted. The duo could easily have just walked right out at that moment but Erza had other ideas. Link looked up and saw her smirking evilly. She breathed in and yelled in an enormous voice.

"Right you miserable pigs, come and get us." The whole courtyard stopped and stared at Erza. It took them a few seconds but eventually they figured it out. With a matching roar they brandished their weapons and charged. Link was shocked this woman had just picked a fight with an entire fort. What in Hylia's name was she thinking? Instantly soldiers surrounded them and Erza began her assault, she brutally took out any soldiers that got too close, using her spear to keep the soldiers at a safe distance and removing any that got too close. Link had to run away from her to avoid being hit himself. Once he had escaped the mass of people he realised he could escape. He saw the gate was wide open and began to dash towards it, that was until he heard the rather unpleasant sound of bows being drawn.

Link looked back to Erza who was thoroughly enjoying her fight seeming totally oblivious to the arrows pointed at her. Something stirred within Link, he did owe her. Changing course he ran up a small amount of scaffolding quickly reaching the top of the fortress walls. He dashed along the wall snarling angrily at the archers hoping he had enough control over his body to fight. The moment he got close he leapt at one of the Archers savaging his hand in his strong jaw. Using all of his strength the wolf pulled the archer and managed to swing him round and throw him at his friends. Three archers were bowled over. Link leapt on the pile of bodies burying two heads into the ground as he jumped over to the next archer barging him off the wall. He looked down to Erza who was just finishing off the final handful of troops. Link jumped down to the ground and jumped onto the back of one soldier biting into his shoulder through his armour the man yelled in pain as Erza bashed the man over the head with a spear finishing the fight.

Erza looked down to her wolf. "Good boy." She praised, Link gave her a stern look. "Ha lucky I have my new puppy to help me, right." She chuckled as she petted Link. Link tried to wriggle away from her grasp. "Right, let's go mission accomplished."

It was only now that Link realised how truly odd this world was, looking up he could see the sky was orange with purple clouds and trees. The general flora surrounding them was of a variety link had never seen before. This world really was opposite to Earthland.

Link followed Erza for some way before he started to question what he was doing. He had to get back to Earthland could this Erza help him or should he abandon her? Still he didn't have many leads on how to get back other than perhaps getting back to the Fairy Tail of this world. Link stopped following Erza and stood still on the road. Erza noticed.

"You ok, wolf?" Erza asked. Link looked at her apologetically and whined. Erza smiled with understanding bending down to Link's level. "You want to leave don't you. Listen I know we can't communicate very well but I'm actually your best bet of getting back to Earthland. I've been told to bring you to someone who can help you out, we're heading there right now. Besides your not allowed to leave you made a promise remember." Her voice was stern and commanding but there seemed to be a slither of loneliness in it. Link walked up to her and nuzzled close to her. She pet him fondly. "Should we continue?" She asked. Link nodded and jumped forward playfully.

After a few hours travel Link and Erza arrived at a small cottage backed against a cliff, Erza seemed reluctant to approach the house but eventually stepped forward. The pair walked to the door and Erza hesitantly knocked three times. The door swung open and behind it a foot tall elf-like man with incredibly rosy cheeks stood grinning widely.

"Good eeevening, Erza it's very good to see you again, and this must be who you were looking for eh. Greetings Mr. Wolf my name is Mr. Tingle. It's very nice to meet you at last." The man greeted in an incredibly high pitched tone looking up at the large wolf. Link looked up to Erza she already looked annoyed. "Well then come in you two, come in, it's very very cold out, you two must be hungry, starving in fact I'll cook something, soup, urm… cabbage? Potato? No that won't do." He comically ran over to a large cauldron. Erza entered the cottage and collapsed on a sofa massaging her temples. Link could empathise with her, he could tell this was going to take a while. As he walked through the door he looked around the room, it was a total mess, maps and tapestries hung haphazardly on every wall, jars of every shape and size lined the room packed filled with scrolls and other paraphernalia. Mr. Tingle was madly talking to himself about soup as he sprang about the house collecting a whole assortment of ingredients. With incredible amounts of acrobatic skill he would perform flips over the cauldron dropping the ingredients to join the stew. Very quickly two bowls of steaming hot soup lay in front of the crazed elf's guests. Link lapped it up, like everything in this world it had a taste that was slightly abnormal he was still unsure whether it was his heightened senses or the world he was in, even so Link rather enjoyed the unique soup.

Once Link had finished he looked up to the elf gratefully. Mr. Tingle had just finished his own bowl of soup with a rather loud slurp. "Now then Mr. Wolf let's have a look." With a huge amount of speed Mr. Tingle explored every inch of Link's new body even going as far as to sniff at the Fairy mark and Triforce on his paws. Link recoiled from the examination feeling quite uncomfortable.

"Found anything midget?" Erza asked.

"Aye, this is the one were looking for. A man in wolf's clothing. He's the one you need to help Miss Knightwalker." Mr Tingle stated. Link turned his head in confusion again. Mr Tingle noticed and decided to explain. "Ah, miss Erza had been a rather naught…" Erza grabbed the elf and put her hand over his mouth. In self-defence the elf bit down hard on her hand causing her to release her grasp.

"He doesn't need to know about that elf." Erza yelled biting back the pain. "Just tell me what I need to do."

With this Tingle jumped up a bookshelf and pulled out an enormous book, the triforce embellished the front cover. He sifted quickly through the pages. "Here, now then it seems that this wolf is the reincarnation of the hero of legend, this one is more commonly known as the Hero of Twilight as he was the only one who can transform into a beast. However he currently seems to be trapped in beast form and unable to escape." Link recoiled at the information. one of my ancestors… No descendants could transform into a wolf? So why am I a wolf? Erza noticed his confusion.

"I guess if you can turn him back into a human and return him home that should suffice to break your cur…"

Erza violently interrupted the elf again. Link wasn't very happy, it didn't take very much to figure out that Erza was hiding something. "Now now you won't find out anything if you act like that Miss. Knightwalker."

"Where do I need to take him?" Erza asked.

"Why… The lost woods I believe will get you there. Once you open the first gate you will find the way."

"Right, do you have a map to the lost woods?"

"Map? Map. Map! Oo I have maps um let's see over here… No over there." The elf began to scurry around looking inside pots and on book cases throwing scrolls in every direction. "Here, a map to the lost woods. You need to know there are no maps of the lost woods or they wouldn't be known as the lost woods, see. you'll be fine I'm sure. Yes sure. Good now I will see you… Um yesterday… Today… No tomorrow." The little elf collapsed onto the ground finally out of energy.

"Finally I thought he'd never shut up." She picked the small elf up and dumped him on the sofa. Right well it's getting late boy so I'm going to sleep outside you stay in here make sure you don't disturb me kay." Link nodded he walked over to the fire and lay down watching as Erza left the room a grim look was on her face. Link still didn't quite know what to think about her, she was hiding something from Link but he didn't have much of an option without her and she seemed willing enough to help. Link stood up and scanned the map that had been left on a sofa. It didn't seem too far away in fact it was rather close to an odd rocky out crop they had seen in the distance on the way here. He was tempted to leave now until he heard a bell ring as Tingle sat up and looked out the window. "She isn't a bad person really, she is just going through some issues at the moment that she can't sort out alone. Please help her for me. okay Mr. Wolf?" Link thought about it before he nodded in understanding. She may not be his Erza but she was Erza all the same. Link once again curled up by the fireplace and closed his eyes swiftly falling into a deep slumber.


	20. The First Gates

Chapter 20 - The First Gates

Thanks to everyone who has given me reviews you all deserve many many cookies. And thanks to everyone who is following the story as well, you guys also deserve many many cookies.

So this chapter takes us back to Earthland to see how Erza and Iris are doing!

Don't forget to fave, follow and review if you enjoy it!

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Erza and Iris soon arrived at the entrance to an enormous forest, this forest was known as the Wind Wood because of the whistling noise the wind made as it descended from mountains surrounding the forest like some kind of barrier. Despite the fact that winter was still at it's peak the trees of the forest still retained their leaves as if it were summer and time was standing still. The sun shone through the branches dappling the ground in a glorious light. Iris and Erza followed a worn stone path covered in patches of moss and grass, this path was obviously now rarely used, especially after the recent invention of trains which had revolutionised travel and trade across Fiore.

Erza followed Iris closely watching her as she walked ahead. The whole journey she had been totally silent. If she was honest, Erza still couldn't tell if Iris was truly a woman; her face and voice were incredibly ambiguous and her breasts were invisible thanks to her rather odd costume there was simply no way she could tell, she had no idea how Link figured it out in only one meeting. Link had told Erza after the fight at the ball that Iris was a member of the Sheikah, a tribe dedicated to the protection of the Hyrulian royal family and it's history. However the hyrulian family line had long since vanished so what were her motives? why were the Sheikah still around? She sighed, she figured she didn't have much of an option, she would have to trust the shiekah for now. Erza fiddled with Link's golden band. It had been two days since the disaster and she still was not over the shock. She wondered if she would ever see him again, if Iris was telling the truth. She examined the band, the magic inside was still alive which gave her hope that he was out there somewhere. There did seem to be one problem, for some reason she couldn't tap into the lacroma, it was as if the magic rejected her or was sealed inside. She frowned as she looked at the band deep in thought.

Iris diverted from the path and began moving through the undergrowth heading downhill. Erza didn't know where her guide was leading her but was cautious as to her intentions, preparing to take action at any point. They quickly reached a short cliff face, Iris held up her hand stopping Erza, looking down below the tree layer past the cliff Erza could make out a set of rather dilapidated ruins. "This is the place," Iris told her. Iris quickly jumped off the cliff into the tree branches ahead using her incredible acrobatic skill to manoeuvre herself to the forest floor below the cliff. Erza scoffed at the method and simply jumped of the cliff twirling in midair as she plummeted to the earth. Her landing, in complete contrast with Iris', sent a shockwave through the forest and Erza stood up in the centre of the crater she created. The pair glanced at each other for a split second neither wanting to reveal that they were in fact trying to one up each other.

Erza looked ahead to the ruins it looked like an old temple but nature was now slowly reclaiming the building. Moss and vines hung on the aged stone and enormous trunks invaded the crumbling walls bursting out the top of the building in a thick canopy. Truthfully Erza was in awe at the sheer power of nature as she approached the temple. The pair opened a pair of large doors and entered the ancient ruin. The floor inside was covered in a layer of grass and moss, ahead of them stood a short staircase leading to an enormous floating cog, the cog had all sorts of carvings, the centrepiece being the triforce surrounded by many other symbols and inscriptions. Erza gazed at the grey stone she could feel trace amounts magic emanating from it but the enormous crack down the centre told her the device was dead and possibly irreparable.

"This place is known as the sealed temple." Iris walked up to the giant cog placing the palm of her hand on it. "This was the first thing Link saw when he came to this era, this place is the gateway to the sacred realm." She then jumped off the pedestal and walked round the giant cog. A second set of large doors stood behind it at the other end of the hall. Iris walked up to the door, and attempted to open it. "It's sealed," she announced as it wouldn't budge. "An ancient sheikah mechanism inspired by the goddesses, it can only be opened if it can hear its resonant frequencies. It requires a song."

Erza felt a sense of deja vu flow over her, she had seen this before. She thought back to the very first day she met Link, didn't he open a door with his harp… The harp he gave her. She noticed on the floor there was a pedestal similar to the one they found on Verdant Volcano. Silently she summoned the Harp of the Goddess and walked up to the small pedestal. Iris noticed her. "Is that?" She asked looking at the harp, "Where did you get it from? Here give it to me I know the song we have to play." She asked reaching for the harp. Erza shielded it from her grasp. Never in a million years would she surrender this harp, it was one of the last links she had to him. "It was a gift from Link, and I know the song too… I think." Iris looked rather shocked and upset, she stood staring at Erza for quite some time before turning her back in order to hide her emotion.

"Get on with it then." She commanded her voice cracking.

Erza brought the harp to her breast breathing out and preparing herself, she plucked the first note. The sound of it echoed through the hall bouncing off of every wall surrounding them in the sweet note. Erza continued to play the song exactly as Link had taught her, the memory of that night fresh in her head driving the song forward. In that moment of clarity she could feel the weight of the song she was playing, the emotion, memory and sheer power buried inside the ancient song. As she finished the song just like when Link played it a single tear fell from her eye. She looked up, Iris still stood with her head bowed and back turned to Erza. The Sheikah quickly wiped her face before turning back to Erza.

"Hmm you played that beautifully… For an amateur." Iris bluntly stated.

"Thanks… I guess, Iris are you okay?" Erza asked.

"Of course I am." She stubbornly said. "Never better."

With a rumble the doors ahead of the, began to open. Erza looked through the doors ahead a whole new section of forest lay ahead they had found the lost woods.

"We should stop here for now, it's getting late and these woods aren't safe to be exploring in the dark." Iris said briskly walking back to the other side of the hall and away from Erza.

"Right," Erza replied as she watched her walk away, she couldn't help feeling that she had hurt her unknowingly. Erza looked through the gate, she agreed the energy she felt from the forest ahead was strangely ominous. She would need to rest up for what ever trials lay ahead, that is if she could.

(…)

_Erza opened her eyes, above her were the kind eyes of her closest friend. Link's handsome face beamed as he gazed down at her. He stood and reached out his hand, Erza took it, a smile that lit up the room adorned his face as he pulled her up to her feet. She looked around they were back… Back in the guildhall, home, safe, together. The guild surrounded her as cheery as ever as if nothing could ever bring them down. Still holding hands Link looked directly into her eyes._

_"Erza," he said "thank you… Thank you for being here with me, thank you for taking care of me when I was lost, thank you for welcoming me into your family, thank you for accepting my destiny as your own…" His final words warped and distorted,_

_"what?"_

_Link closed his eyes and the world around him went dark. Erza looked on, fear leaking into her heart._

_"Link?" She asked worried. He opened his eyes were pure white. He screamed in agony falling to his knees as he pulled away from Erza. Demonic shadows surrounded and attacked Link from every angle, ripping him to pieces. Erza screamed terror and summoned a blade she ran forward and sliced at the demons but they didn't even react. Nothing she could do was working. She fell to the floor and screamed. As she did the demonic heads turned towards her. Seeing their new prey in a state of vulnerability they ran at her screeching. In a second she was on her feet running through the dark void for her life. The howls and moans of her pursuers seemed to get closer and closer. The faded view of a man with black robes hair and eyes appeared he stuck his leg out causing Erza to trip. she quickly turned over holding out her hand towards the demons as if it would save her. "LINK!" She yelled at the top of her lungs. The demons pounced descending on their prey._

_Erza saw a flash of blonde hair and all of a sudden her hand began to glow. A holy light shone through the darkness, burning though the Demons ahead of her. Erza's breathing was heavy but she stared at the sheer beauty of the golden light. As the demons all faded from existence the light fell the silhouette of Erza's hand was now visible and imprinted on the back of it was the source of the holy light. The Triforce._

(...)

Erza woke up sweating heavily. "What on earth?" She had had horrifying nightmare like this ever since Link's death but this one ended differently. She looked at her left hand emblazoned on it was the symbol of the triforce identical to Link's. Erza covered her mouth with her right hand, tears flooding her eyes. She immediately checked the bracelet. She sighed in relief, it was still glowing, he was still alive. She looked back to her glowing hand and stretched it out ahead. Her eyes caught a small blonde woman run behind a tree. A ghost? Erza's mind flooded with questions as she gazed at the blazing emblem on her hand. She had to find Link and soon.

Silently, a small masked child looked down on the warrior, he giggled lightly in glee before fading back into the shadows.

(Meanwhile in Edolas)

Link looked up into the orange sky, this world was truly beautiful despite its off colours. Erza walked next to the large wolf her hands behind her head as she basked in the afternoon sun. It had taken quite some time to get over to the forest, it had been much further than either of them anticipated but they were nearing it now.

"So, here we are." Erza stated as they walked up to the edge of the forest. The forest was truly enormous, surrounding a huge mountainous rock formation.

"So, Pup," Link scowled at Erza who returned with a grin. "Did Scarlett ever tell you what happened when she came to Edolas." Link had some idea but didn't quite know the details.

"Her and her little buddies managed to remove all the magic from Edolas, that mountain in the centre of the forest. It's not a mountain, it was once a floating island. We don't have those anymore they all fell down to Earth when they left." Link looked up at the woman. "Nah don't worry 'bout it wolf, yeh theres no magic but we've survived could be worse, eh. Still this is our destination the lost woods are somewhere in this forest. Any ideas boy?"

Link began to sniff around. Now he was getting used to his body and his heightened senses. Still all he could currently smell was the forest ahead. There were no real abnormalit… Wait. Link could smell something incredibly old in the forest ancient stone. Perking up he barked pointing in the direction the smell came from.

"Good boy, I'll have to buy you some treats." Erza said rather condescendingly. Link barged the warrior and lead the way as Erza chuckled at the wolf. It wasn't long at all before they reached the target. They had found themselves directly underneath the fallen island. The floor was covered in an enormous stone slab, the sides of the slab held crumbling and broken pillars that once carried a roof. Ahead was what appeared to be a huge gate into the island, it was large and circular as if it were a huge manhole at one point. The gate was made of two incredibly smooth slabs of stone bisected in the centre diagonally.

Link ran up to the gate and sniffed it he could feel the draught moving through the door proving that the enormous mountain was hollow. _Could this be that kind of gate? _He couldn't smell any magic on the gate but it was still possible. He looked back and saw the pedestal he ran over and sniffed at it confirming his suspicions. This was a musical gate. He looked back at Erza who was staring at the gate in confusion. Link whined, there was no way he could tell her what he had discovered and he doubted she had a musical instrument or knew the song. Link looked back to the trees it was almost sunset. Erza had noticed too and was looking jumpy. She turned to Link.

"Erm, Well I'm sure you've got this covered I'm going to find some…" Erza paused to think "Food I will be back soon kay?" Link approached her. "No boy, stay here," she frowned. "there are dangerous monsters in these woods and I don't think you can deal with them so be a good dog and stay here I will be back as soon as I can so don't come looking for me." Link looked at her suspiciously something was very wrong with her. Just as he was about to protest Erza looked at him, her eyes pleading. It was a total contrast to her usual demeanour it was as if she actually cared. Link nodded his head deciding to trust Erza. She bent down and patted his head. "Thank you boy, I'll see you soon." With that she got up and ran into the forest Leaving Link behind. Link debated following her but decided to trust her there was obviously something she didn't want Link to see.

Link turned back to the door maybe he could write what he wanted Erza to do. The sun finally fell behind the tree and Link sighed he went up to the gate and curled up ready to sleep.

(...)

The full moon had risen to its peak, it's silver light shone down on the solitary wolf waking the beast up. Link's eyes flashed as he looked up at the moon. It was a truly stunning sight Link had always loved the moon but now as he looked at it he couldn't help but feel connected to it. His ears pricked as he heard distant howls, other wolves were out there joined together in the moonlight. Every wolf connected under the same sky. Link looked ahead at the pedestal, an idea forming in his head. Link jumped down from the great gate and stood on the pedestal. He raised his head and began to howl joining the symphony of wolves. His long sorrowful cry was filled with emotion, his homesickness for both Fairy Tail and Hyrule, his guilt for leaving Erza behind and his promise that he will one day return. The wolves of the great forest howled back in reply joining his song, howls of deep empathy and understanding, howls of good luck and howls emanating the exact emotions Link felt. If Link were human tears would have flooded out his eyes, wolves truly were intelligent beasts. He longed to meet whoever he was howling with to run and hunt with them but he knew that he was a stranger to them and that his true pack was worlds away. After a time Link fell silent he watched as a cloud drifted in the way of the moon and the forest fell silent. Link looked ahead as he heard the sound of grating stone, the door had opened. Link walked up to the now open door peering into the depths.

Once again Link's ears flinched as he heard a new sound. This one was far less welcome, deep harsh breaths resounded behind the wolf. Link turned to face his new adversary raising his hackles and growling attempting to intimidate the challenger. Ahead of him was a great beast it was far larger than himself silhouetted against the moon, behind the monster long red hair floated eerily in the wind.


	21. Part of the Pack

Chapter 21 - Part of the Pack

So this has come out quite early because im going on holiday to a place with no wifi D: it's gonna be torture. So i figured i would release this today and the next chapter will be released later than normal. I apologise but i have not had time to fully proof read this chapter so please excuse any mistakes. I may update the chapter later to add a bit more and round it off better. I did really enjoy writing this chapter so i hope it's a good read.

I now have a second fanfiction out, it's called kill the misadventures and is an akame ga kill fanfiction. If you havent watched the anime seriously do it is incredible. But if you have please give my story a read and tell me what you think. Im finding it much harder than this story.

Enjoy the story and please fave and follow if you want to read more, and don't forget to review.

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The beast stood tall in the darkness, it was a savage cross between a wolf and a man. It's large ugly head reared back as it howled to the moon, the sound filled with bloodlust and rage, it long red hair seemed to shine like wet blood in the moonlight. There was no way Link could take this beast alone, he had only been a wolf for two days he didn't stand a chance.

The beast bellowed and ran at Link, it swung its gnarled hand downwards, Link dodged and rolled out the way. The hand smashed into bare rock shattering the slab it struck. The immense strength of the beast put Link in sheer awe, this creature was insanely powerful. He sprinted in a ring around the beast looking for a weak spot that he could exploit, there weren't any obvious ones. Link decided to turn to normal hunting tactics, when hunting any mammal the weakest point is the underside of the neck, if Link managed to bite that neck the beast would bleed out or at least run away. The beast swung it's large dog like tail around trying to hit the running wolf as it ran behind. Link slid under the tail breaking before running right at the beast's back, jumping on the base of the tail bone he bounded up the back of the beast, the beast began to turn, soon it would expose his target, Link jumped over it's shoulder anticipating the beasts movements and prepared to strike his target. In a lightning fast motion the monster swung its arm hitting Link with a destructive blow, Link howled in pain as he was knocked into a near by pillar.

Link realised couldn't win out in the open like this, he was at a severe disadvantage, in order to catch the beasts attention he barked at the beast. The beast, enraged, charged at the small wolf, Link smirked and ran into the forest. The monster barrelled through the forest after its prey snarling and roaring, with every step it crushed growing saplings and shrubs leaving in its wake a trail of destruction. Link meandered through the forest amazed at his own running speed, his sharp senses told him everything he needed to know: exactly where the enemy was, exactly what path to take. He could easily move through the forest with deadly precision and total silence. Never before had the young man felt more alive. The monster was slowly gaining on him, this was it. Link broke his stride completely, immediately halting as the beast ran towards him. Seeing its prey halt the monster attempted to stop also losing its sense of balance causing it to fall to the ground. Link dodged the monster as it slid to a stop and ran into the undergrowth for cover. The beast pulled itself up, its eyes filled with a calm rage as it searched for its prey.

Link did his best to stay hidden, he prowled through the undergrowth looking for the perfect spot to strike. In less than a second the beast turned and made instant eye contact with Link. His cover was blown, the beast also seemed to have enhanced senses. Link cursed, that would make sneaking useless. The beast yelled and carved its paw through the undergrowth tearing it to shred and striking Link at the same time. Link let put a loud whimper of pain as he struck an old oak tree. Link managed to drag himself to his feet, he wasn't in a good position he was hurting all over and was probably bleeding where he had hit the tree. The beast ran at him fangs bared and ready. Link managed to avoid the beast by mere millimetres, the beast burst through the tree toppling it. As Link landed, pain shot up his legs causing him to howl in desperation. Before he could recover he saw the tree falling down on top of him. Now only running on sheer adrenaline and survival instincts Link rolled out of the way not entirely helping his injuries. The trunk was now between him and the beast. The beast leapt up on top of it locating its helpless prey as it lay tantalisingly in front of him. With a victory bellow it jumped down from the trunk over Link. Link forced himself onto shaking legs, his fangs still bared menacingly.

_I am not giving up_ Link told himself _I can do this I am going to help you no matter what it takes!_ He yelled in his head.

The beast raised its paw ready to finish Link off. The muscles in Link's legs tensed ready to spring into action. The paw descended and Link's legs began to recoil, but both halted the second they heard a howl from the right. Stood on a boulder was a golden wolf howling to the sky silhouetted by the silver moon. Momentarily after a cacophony of howls could be heard as from the forest came whole packs of wolves circling the battlefield.

The mighty beast saw his disadvantage and fell onto all fours in a defensive position. Three wolves attacked from behind, two were swotted away like flies but one had snuck underneath and and jumped up towards the beast neck. Link was astonished, he looked back up to the golden wolf to find he had gone. The beast bellowed and began to run through the forest. The wolves followed the creature, the hunt had begun.

Link ran after the beast following it's direct path. He found this odd, the beast could have easily held its ground why was it running. Link could hear how the wolves were communicating. The pack had done this a hundred times and had cut down the hunt to a precise operation. Link could tell the pack has split into six groups, four flanks that were positioned in places to force the prey into a direct route but could attack is necessary, a fall back group making sure the prey did not escape by totally changing direction and finally a forward group who were running ahead to ambush the beast. No doubt the alpha was in that group leading the charge. As inspired as Link felt he couldn't help but be worried, this was no ordinary beast. It seemed to be running much slower than it had been earlier. It's trying to trick the wolves into thinking it is tiring Link realised, it knows what their doing. Link cursed as he saw the beast instantly change direction heading straight towards the mountain. Link sped up, he had to catch up.

The right flank groups made their move to redirect the beast but failed as the beast barged through the pack, spinning as it knocked a pouncing wolf right over Link's head. Link watched in awe at the near military precision this beast was fighting with. The beast continued running towards it's destination suddenly bursting from the trees into a large grassy clearing. A pack of half a dozen wolves burst out from the undergrowth attacking in formation, The formation was foolproof some wolves distracting some ready to attack the weak points. After circling the beast the wolves attacked simultaneously. Link was ready to join the fray when the beast jumped. It leapt at least six feet into the air and the wolves collided in midair. The beast was about to descend on the wolves when a much large wolf barged into the monster knocking it away. With a quick yip it sent the other wolves into the forest. Link looked at the newcomer. He had silver white hair and burning golden eyes, scar lay on his face and body. Even Link felt intimidated as it growled at the beast. The alpha had arrived. Link stepped into the clearing also baring his fangs it was time to finish this.

Both the alpha and Link charged at the beast, the alpha dodged a paw that was swung at him rolling under his legs and biting down on the beast's tail. It bellowed and swung round Link narrowly missed its leg at it moved as he ran to the other side of the wolf breaking and performing a full turn he jumped towards the beasts neck. The beast turned his head away from Link hiding his neck and swinging its long red hair to strike Link. Link fell to the ground and the alpha retreated back. That was when Link had his idea, fire erupted in his eyes as he barked at the beast gaining his attention the alpha went and bit the monster leg this time wrestling with the strength of it. The beast bellowed and attempted to strike the wolf, Link catapulted himself into the air landing on the monsters arm. He ran up the creature coming up with a plan as he went. As Link reached the beasts shoulder it snapped it's mighty jaws, just missing Link's tail as he jumped behind the monster. He caught the long strand of red hair that cascaded down the monsters back using his momentum to swing around the front of the beast wrapping the hair around him like a scarf. Finally landing behind the monster Link pulled the hair with all his strength, pulling the mighty beast to the floor. The beast fell smashing it's head on an enormous boulder breaking it in two, the force knocked the monster out cold.

The alpha howled in victory and Link panted totally out of energy. The whole pack of wolves stepped into the clearing looking at the unconscious beast many were injured but no seemed fazed. The alpha walked over to join his pack turning to Link only to offer a curt nod to the lone wolf. Link returned the gesture in gratitude for the help the pack provided, without the, Link would no doubt be dead. The pack turned and reentered the forest Link highly doubted he would run with this pack again.

He jumped onto the front of the giant beast, if he were in his human form he would have frowned but instead he let out a soft whine as he looked down at the monster pitying what it had become. Gently he curled up on the monsters chest and fell asleep.

(…)

Knightwalker woke up as the sun rose, it's light flickered through the trees dappling the ground with it's rays. She lifted an arm to her head, she had a splitting headache like none she had ever had before. Is this a side effect? She thought, contemplating her situation. Finally taking note of her surroundings she felt a warm body resting on her belly. She looked down to see a large wolf head lying on it's side on her bare stomach. "Wolf?" She asked confused, _how did he get here? what the hell happened? "_Argh why can I never remember?" The red headed warrior wracked her brain but couldn't remember a single moment of last night. The wolf opened his eyes, keen and ready. He looked up to see… two more than reasonably sized breasts.

Link's mind went into instant overdrive as he got up and turned away from the naked Erza Knightwalker, the one he had been sleeping with all night. The human inside of the wolf turned a shade of scarlet that rivalled Erza's hair. Knightwalker's face did too as she realised the situation covering her body with her arms. The situation quickly became awkward so Erza fled, yelling back. "I'm going to find my armour." Link was left awestruck, he didn't realise she would be naked when she woke up. Silently, he turned and followed the trail of destruction from last night back to the gateway.

Erza returned wearing her armour and spear, her face still blushing as she refused to look at the perverse wolf. Link just sat as she walked past, a sad forlorn look on his face. When Link didn't follow she looked back to see his face, it was filled with worry. Link walked up to the warrior and pushed himself against her leg. She bent down and patted the wolf.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you about... Well you know, I didn't know how you would react." Link looked right into the eyes of Erza. "Listen, most magics no longer exist in this world. There are however some that weren't removed, mainly the magic of demons. Curses."

Link flinched at the word demon thinking back to the last two he fought. Both were strong beyond belief with both swords and magic, heck Demise managed to create a whole new dimension and was still an insane warrior.

"Much to my misfortune I happened to meet one, he cursed me into a bestial form that would only arise in the night. That's the form you saw last night and I don't know how you beat me but tonight it will be back so please stay away, and don't try it again."

Link nodded before nuzzling the warrior. She stood up and looked towards the enormous gate that was now open.

"Well then, I guess that's where we're headed." Erza ran over to the giant door. "Well come on you pervert lets get you home."


	22. The Skull Kids

Chapter 22 - The Skull Kids

Woo, i'm back! I hate not having wifi with a passion. So here is chapter 22 and as you can guess we're getting pretty close to the sacred realm now. From now on chapters should come out at normal times again and with my Exams looming i intend to write enough chapters to last me till July before Easter so it doesn't get in the way of work.

Please fave and follow if you enjoy the story and a huge thanks to all of you who already have (have a cookie on me) and please review if you have any feedback (in which case you deserve a whole jar of cookies.)

enjoy the chapter ;)

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Erza and Link had been wandering through the tunnels of the fallen island for quite some time now. The interior seemed to be made of enormous tunnels and large cavernous chambers. The whole place was incredibly dark but Link could see with almost perfect clarity, the fact that Erza was holding a torch didn't help his night vision but she needed it so Link didn't complain. The tunnels were actually filled with life, trees filled the caverns along with a whole assortment of wild flowers and fungi. It seemed incredibly odd considering no sunlight was hitting these plants, somewhere in here there must be an incredible source of energy feeding them.

Link's ears pricked when he heard Erza say "Hey wolf, how did you know it was me in my beast form?" Erza had been wondering this for a while, Link had woken up sleeping on her which meant after beating her he stayed close, but how did he know she was safe to stay close too, if she had woken up she could have killed him? Link turned around and started to sniff at Erza's feet. He looked up and tilted his head hoping she got the picture. "You could smell me?" Link nodded, in fairness the whole thing had been a bit obvious, all of her hinting at monsters helped and the red hair was a give away but it was only in the middle of fighting her that he actually realised who it was. "Thank you," she said in less than a whisper, "thanks for sticking with me after that. I don't think I've ever had a companion who would do that for me." Link looked up at her, he wished he could talk it frustrated him that he couldn't properly communicate with the woman. Link walked forward and nuzzled close to Erza's leg, she bent down and stroked the large wolf. "You've been a good friend, wolfy." She said as she patted his back. Link looked up at the woman normally this version of Erza was so teasing and cruel, this was a totally different side to the woman. As if she'd read his mind she suddenly said. "Oh gosh, I'm going soft. C'mon lets get moving wolf." She said pushing him away, as if to tease her Link pounced back on top of her for another pat (he had grown rather fond of them). The woman laughed as she was taken down by the wolf and gave him a final belly rub.

A loud scream interrupted their antics, a skull child ran around a corner ahead holding a lantern, Link saw the kid was wearing odd straw clothes and an odd mask in the shape of a skull. The skull kid ran round and hid behind Link who was now standing. He was shaking in fear. Erza frowned "I thought this place seemed too peaceful. Hey kid, what's happened?" She asked

The kid just shivered and hid from Erza behind Link's other leg. "Listen we're here to help can you tell us what happened?" The boy relaxed slightly and shook his head, still shivering.

"Can you tell us where to go?" She asked in a stern voice, she was getting impatient and Link knew what Erza was like when she was impatient. The skull kid nodded he leapt onto Link's back causing him to buck in order to get the child off, the child began to giggle as he clung on tight. Eventually Link gave in letting the child settle on his back comfortably.

"So, which way?" Erza ordered. The skull kid pointed ahead silently, Link pondered whether they could trust the child he seemed… Disturbed if anything. Even so the wolf padded forward with Erza following closely behind.

The skull kid led them through the tunnels guiding Link through the great labyrinth. It had taken them hours to reach their destination it felt like they had climbed to the very top of the rock formation. As they followed the tunnel they noticed an orange light Link felt like he was approaching a boss room but with confidence he strode forward bracing himself for the worst. Before they got close the skull kid began to shiver violently, it dismounted from Link and petted him before running back into the darkness.

"We're here." Erza stated. The wolf and the woman entered an enormous cavern, light flooded into the room through a small hole in the cieling. Judging by the position and colour of the light it was approaching dusk. In the centre of the room was a large white crystal that glowed eerily, tendrils of the gem covered the floor of the room intertwining with the roots of the trees that surrounded the cavern. Moss and wildflowers filled the room with a fragrant scent that was comforting. The whole scene would have been stunning if not for the sense of foreboding that stemmed from a hooded figure in the centre of the room.

Erza readied her spear and Link bent down growling deeply. The figure turned and Erza gasped, partially in fear. The man was shrouded in a black robe under the hood lay the skull of a stag, grand antlers sticking out the hood. "You!" Erza announced. "You're the demon that cursed me." The robed creature was silent. Link's mind was working quickly, this man had turned her into the beast? Why was he here? Link looked at the crystal and could feel the power inside it. Could he be feeding from it? Link felt it could be possible this could be the source of whatever magic he uses. Maybe he needed this crystal to survive. The creature didn't seem to willing to risk it to them as it began to float above it and screeched angrily at them.

"Well then wolf meet the Etherion of the Hunt, which means it's about time…" Erza paused Link looked up seeing the anger in her eyes. "I enacted my revenge!" She charged.

(…)

Iris and Erza stood back to back on a large broken pillar in the centre of the ruin. Erza was equipped in her heaven's wheel armour wielding two ornate angel blades. Iris on the other hand was in her robes of lilac and white cloth closely resembling bandages over her body, she was wielding several throwing knives with blue runes glowing on black steel. Erza had no idea where she was producing these from but assumed it was some kind of magic. Erza knew the situation was unfavourable, the ethereal creatures were beginning to become a real pain and no matter how hard they tried neither could keep up with the skull kid in the crazy mask as it jumped through the trees playing his annoying little trumpet. They had retreated to the pillar for some respite attracting all the forest creatures into the centre of the arena.

"Iris, let me take care of this just give me a second." Erza said, her plan was to use blumenblatt to remove all the animals at once then quickly requip into her flight armour and catch the skull kid.

"I'm afraid you don't have a minute." Iris stated pointing at the skull kid. The skull kid was angrily stamping it's feet in the tree, he looked like he was having a tantrum. In rage he put his two hands together, As he began to separate them, he produced a ball of green energy and threw it in the direction of Erza and Iris forcing them to jump off the pillar and out of the way. As Erza descended she sliced upwards destroying a large lizard, before turning to face the other ethereal animals. The skull kid began to jump from branch to branch again, firing the green missiles when he could. They exploded on impact and would always create a powerful shockwave. Erza just managed to jump out of the way of one missile when she jumped right into Iris.

"Get out of the way." Erza yelled frustrated more than anything,

"You barged into me." Iris returned.

"Argh watch out." Erza said shoving Iris out of the way of another missile and attempting to deflect it with her sword. The deflection failed and the missile exploded in Erza's face destroying the sword. Erza simply requipped, returning the broken hilt for a new blade.

"What do you think your doing I had that covered!" Iris yelled as she threw a knife at a squirrel who was chucking nuts at them.

"You had no chance, I just saved your life." Erza retaliated.

"Hylia help me, you are so infuriating," Iris yelled running up to Erza.

"Ha, says you half pint, no wonder your using knives you couldn't wield a sword if your life depended on it." Turning to meet her.

"Well at least I didn't need my chest to get Link to like me? I actually have a personality." Iris yelled into Erza's face.

"Wait what?" Erza said in confusion. Another explosion threw the women apart, the skull kid did not like being ignored.

"Jeez Erza you got more brawn than brains? Use one of Link's spells, this is obviously one of the trials." Iris yelled.

"Fine," Erza said as she removed a wolf from the herd. "Iris get on top of the pillar." Iris did as she was asked without complaining meeting Erza there. "Now come on kid show us what your made of."

The skull kid summoned a new missile in his hands, it was bigger than the first few and seemed fit to burst.

"This had better work Erza." Iris said as she grit her teeth and braced herself. Erza breathed out hoping it would as well, she hadn't seen this spell work before but knew from Link that it was defensive. The shot was released and Erza shouted in the face of it. "Naryu's love!" She felt the magic energy leave her as an azure crystal shell formed around the two women, building itself out of thin air from bottom to top. Erza closed her eyes feeling the crystal with her mind and supplying it the magic energy it needed. The crystal sealed as the missile struck them, exploding on impact. The pair were totally unharmed inside the shell. Erza's eyes shot open as the shell shattered. She pointed her sword at the skull kid telekinetically throwing the razor sharp crystals at the skull kid, knocking him to the floor.

Iris jumped off the pillar using Erza as a foot hold and spun in mid air releasing a long braid with a metal weight on the end from the folds of the bandages covering her head. As she span, throwing daggers filled her fingers, with lightning speed the sheikah released the projectiles at the skull kid. The skull kid saw the blades and used Farore's wind to vanish as the knives landed harmlessly in the dirt. He reappeared in the trees again and summoned more ethereal animals.

Iris began to jump from tree to tree casting down a rain of knives on the ethereal creatures to cut down there numbers she quickly noticed her weapons were having no effect. Erza attempted to decapitate a huge ghostly bear but her blade just swam right through without even harming the beast, Erza cursed these creatures had gained the ability to become tangible only at will meaning that they would be incredibly difficult to hit with such conventional weapons. She requipped to her purgatory armour which tended to work well against ethereal creatures such as these but realised quickly that this too was having very little effect. Erza saw the skull kid dancing in his tree and looked down at the golden band on her wrist. It held a single colour left, the red of Din's flame that rivalled the red of Erza's hair. A single use only, one single attempt at entering the sacred realm, she had to make this count. Summoning all her willpower she placed two fingers on the lacroma in the centre of the golden band her triforce glowing stronger than ever before. Wind whipped around her driving back the oncoming ghosts, and throwing her hair out behind her. Iris gazed in awe as she saw the woman's triforce for the firstt time, feeling incredibly conscious of her left hand. Erza's eyes were on fire as she looked at the skull kid who was laughing in the face of her. _This is it, this is so I can see Link again,_ She calmly told herself. "Din's fire!" She yelled holding out her palm. Erza received a totally unexpected result, when she had seen Din's fire before it was a simple projectile that exploded at will, this... this was totally different. A raging inferno erupted from her hand, cloaking the area around her in fire. The spell flowed out her like water, it was so easy so straight forward, so powerful. Unlike Naryu's love and Farore's wind this spell just seemed so easy. Erza controlled the fire spreading it throughout the arena destroying the ethereal beasts and then shooting it straight towards the rather shocked skull child. The skull child was enveloped in the flame as it spread throughout the trees burning through the leaves faster than a wildfire. Erza stopped the flow of magic and the fire instantly disappeared. Iris poked her head around the central pillar and the skull kid fell for the final time out of the tree, he disappeared leaving only his creepy wooden mask on the ground. Suddenly the arena shook as if a seal had been broken and the walls began to disintegrate, Iris and Erza braced themselves as a blinding light swam through the forest taking up their whole vision.

Erza and Iris woke back in the ruins they had started. Erza was holding the harp as if she had just finished playing and tears fell from Iris' eyes. Touching her face to confirm her belief Iris figured out what had happened. "It was all an illusion."

Erza looked just as shocked as her, she looked down to her left hand, it still held the triforce. "Somehow I don't think it was." She stated.

A child's voice came from above announced by a giggle. "Come back and play another time." The voice then faded leaving them to the sounds of the forest.

"That goddamn kid!" Erza said shocked at the turn of events.

She looked ahead to the gate to the lost woods, it was closed again just like before they had opened it but this time it seemed to be glowing. In an instant it sounded like a lock broke. As the door began open a golden light shone through. Erza suddenly realised what was happening. The gate was not opening to the lost woods. It was opening to the sacred realm.


	23. The Sword of Evil's Bane

Chapter 23 - The Sword of Evil's Bane

oh my gosh this chapter was a pain in the ass to write, a 2000+ word fight scene is not easy and I really wanted to do this scene some justice. I seriously hope you enjoy it.

Oh and have the song swordland (part of the OST from sword art online) open in another tab. you can find it on youtube just to make the last scene that much more epic. I'll tell you when to press play in the story if you want it.

Please fave, follow and review i love reading your feedback it's one of the best things about writing fanfiction which I'm sure other writers will understand.

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Erza Knightwalker charged at the floating figure, it's terrifying deer skull mask not deterring her in the slightest. She jumped up to meet him in midair, she was just about to swipe with her spear when the robed demon raised one arm and fired a black bolt from a skeletal hand. It hit Erza directly, throwing her into the wall of the cavern. Link watched in astonishment at the power the bolt gave off, shuddering in the presence of such dark magic. Shaking slightly, Erza got up and threw herself towards him again, kicking up dust in her wake. Link decided he had to help out and ran around the crystal to the other side of the room. He noticed there was a large arch shaped door at the far end of the room but ignored it for now.

Erza jumped up attempting to strike the demon again but the demon shot her down once more with ease. Link stopped and used all of his power to jump at the demon attempting to attack from behind while he was distracted. The demon anticipated the attack and simply floated to the side letting Link sail past him and land next to Erza. They had to get him on the ground or they had no chance of touching him. This would be easier if Link wasn't a wolf.

Erza changed tactics and skirted round the edge of the room, Link decided to go for an upfront assault and ran forward he intention being to jump off the crystal and get up to the demon. Link ran forward and jumped, four paws hit the white crystal, two feet came off. As he pushed of the crystal Link felt his whole body change his organs and bones moved inside of him with a sickly noise. His triforce glowing brightly. The demon just watched as the wolf changed into a man flying up at him, intending to bite him. The Demon summoned a black orb of magic and threw it at Link, an odd black rock formed inside it and struck Link in his forehead, the stone melted into his head slowly transforming him back into a wolf. With a dark shot he threw Link back to earth who couldn't help but feel as if he was about to throw up. Fortunately Erza saw her opening as the demon dealt with Link she threw her spear, to her surprise the spear struck the etherion cutting right through its robes. The demon wailed as black smoke flooded out of its open wound.

Link was too discombobulated to move and fell onto the floor retching in pain, he saw Erza retrieve her spear and fly up to the demon only to be shot back down, in her rage she was being far too careless. The smoke had now stopped spewing out of the etherion's back but Link wasn't looking at that he was more concerned about the last slither of light on the wall. Night was just about to fall and that meant. A deafening yell was heard from Erza, black fire engulfed her as she fell to her knees in sheer pain. The fire was insanely hot Link could feel the plants around him being burned to cinders even the demon seemed to be able to feel it. Link watched Erza's silhouette as she slowly transformed from human to monster. A blood curdling roar resounded through the cavern as Erza finished her transformation.

Realising he had to do something Link ran to the white crystal touching it with his paws. Once again he transformed, Link fell to his knees as his paws grew into hands and his face shortened. Link quickly stood up, fortunately he was fully clothed and equipped unlike when Erza turned back, he assumed they were different curses. He saw a black stone fall to the ground next to him it glowed with a dark energy. His attention was suddenly turned away from the stone.

Erza yelled and bounded up to the demon, her eyes were filled with a savage blood lust. She snarled and leapt up to greet the etherion that had cursed her, the demon floated to the side and fired a dark bolt at the beasts side, it didn't seem to effect as much as when she was human but she still fell to the ground with a roar. Link was glad Erza still saw the etherion as her enemy and hoped she wouldn't turn on him either. Link took his chance he drew his bow despite the protest of his reformed muscles. This may be the Demon of the Hunt, a deity that Link should pay his respects to but in truth Link owed him nothing. He shot with all of his usual accuracy striking the demon through the chest, if the demon were a beast it would already be dead but as before black smoke flooded out of the demons back as it screeched. It turned towards Link who was preparing his shield.

Before the demon had a chance to attack Link jumped to the side, Erza's paw barely missed his chest before striking the ground throwing up small rocks that flew past Link. Link cursed Erza didn't recognise him in this form. Link landed and ran around the crystal in order to gain some distance but was stopped in his tracks by a dark shot from the demon. The second shot he blocked with his shield batting it to the side where it struck the wall leaving a smoking crater. Link felt beads of sweat drip down his face, was struggling to handle the pressure of the two enemies baring down on him. He reached for his sword but grasped thin air, in the heat of battle he had forgotten how Zeref had attempted to kill him. this mistake cost him Erza barrelled into Link knocking him into the wall. Link shook as he tried to get up, his back burned in pain and he could feel old and new wounds opening up. He eyed the etherion and the wild beast, it seemed Erza was totally ignoring the etherion now, Link had to assume he was puppeting her, he had to find a weakness.

In a burst of speed Link ran forward, the beast met him head on as the etherion summoned a new black orb. Link ran towards Erza, she swiped but easily missed Link who had slid under her. He blocked a black bolt with his shield and ran as fast as his legs could carry him towards his target. He swiftly bent down and picked up Erza's spear. Link was totally unused to spear combat but he only needed it for one thing. With a yell he changed direction sprinting towards the white crystal raising the spear in a finishing move. He jumped to narrowly dodge the barrage of black bolts the etherion was releasing and thrust the spear into the crystal with all the might he could muster. The spear went deep into the crystal but Link realised it was not enough. Feeling the wind behind him, Link jumped as Erza swung her paw right into the crystal. Link smiled as he saw the crystal shatter but was caught off guard when he was hit by Erza's tail throwing him into a wall. His situation was still desperate but now he had removed the etherion's power source. He had realised that the demon was feeding of the crystal which is why it never moved from it's spot now it had limited power and would hopfully be easier to defeat. Clutching his chest with his left hand he looked around he noticed the spear shaft was totally ruined and unusable, Erza would no doubt make him pay for that later. With courage and determination Link stood up ignoring the intense pain in his back. In such a small space with no proper melee weapons and no magic Link was praying for a miracle. Erza swiped, Link ducked, the etherion fire a bolt which Link narrowly avoided. He could only keep dodging for so long that was until he saw it. The brain wave hit him like a bolt of lightning and he headed straight for it. A black stone on the ground, darkness oozed from it and orange lines glowed eerily around the stone. Link knew what was going to happen but had no choice. Dodging more attacks he jumped for it grabbing it in both hands as he slid along the floor. His triforce glowed and once again he felt his body mould into the form of a wolf he spun and bared his fangs at his foes. He was not going to lose this fight. He was going to get home! Erza seemed to pause when she saw him the. Suddenly cringed violently as if she was suffering. _Is she… Trying to escape from the etherion's grasp?_ Link wondered. She howled a blood curdling howl then looked to Link with cruel eyes, she had lost. Link braced himself until something caught his eye. The gateway at the far end of the room had begun to glow.

(…)

Erza scarlet was the first to step into the sacred realm. She was stunned at it's beauty golden sunlight cascaded through the trees, the realm was a perfect octagon with large stone arches on each side Erza assumed these were the gates to the other worlds. Behind one of these was Edolas and Link. But the thing that truly grasped Erza's attention was what was in the centre of the empty realm. Directly ahead of her inserted into a stone pedestal was the most beautiful sword she had ever seen, the hilt was a deep blue with green bands wrapped up the handle. Erza gazed at the Master Sword's characteristic cross guard, she could tell this blade was nothing like anything she had ever wielded before it was truly a holy blade. Iris and Erza approached the pedestal. "Erza I need to know, if Link doesn't get here on time are you prepared to take up the sword?" Iris asked.

"No, because I won't have too, I trust he'll be here."

Iris smiled "I know, Link's punctuality may be slightly off but when it's important he never disappoints."

With that the pair didn't say another word to each other and patiently waited, the minutes ticked over and slowly the tensions rose. They soon approached ten minutes left, Erza's nerves were beginning to get the better of her she stood in front of a random gateway her fist clutched to her chest, she was praying to any god out there that Link would make it on time. _You have to get here, you must, please don't do this to me. _Time still ticked on and there was no motion whatsoever, none of the doors opened. It was a long shot but he had to get here. He had to get here now.

"Erza I think it's time."

"No we still have time don't give up yet… Please don't give up."

"Erza we don't have a choice if he doesn't come we will be trapped here forever. You have to draw the sword now."

Erza hated this she truly had no choice Link had failed her. She looked back to Iris and gave a small nod. This was it. Slowly she walked up to the pedestal and gazed down at the legendary sword… It took all of her willpower to place her two hands on the hilt. She noted how comfortable it felt how naturally it sat in her hands. She closed her eyes and braced herself this was it.

Just as she was about to draw the sword from the pedestal a gateway exploded into life. A large wolf bounded through the gate followed by an enormous beast that smashed straight through causing Erza to cover her face. She watched the wolf spin to face the beast, Erza watched in awe. The wolf's snarl, its pose, it's wild courageous eyes. In that moment she knew exactly who it was. Link ran towards the beast head on, Erza almost called out to him but then stuttered as she saw what happened.

The beast just stopped right in front of Link. The two beasts stared deeply into each other eyes, one feral but proud the other filled with a rage fuelled bloodlust. Yet they had both just stopped. The huge red haired beast rose onto it's hind legs and howled, Erza saw its eyes change, they became proud, strong the eyes of a warrior. It fell onto all fours and turned to face the gate. Standing beside Link. They gazed intently as something new entered the sacred realm a hooded figure glided over the ground, it had the skull of a stag instead of a face. Erza could feel the darkness emanating from it and knew instantly what it was. An etherion.

The etherion screeched and became surrounded in darkness the light of the sacred realm dimmed as if a cloud had passed overhead. Erza was paralysed all she could do was watch as the two beasts faced the demon. With a howl the two wolves ran towards the etherion. With a skeletal hand the etherion simply swiped sending a wave of darkness that struck them both throwing them back in pain. Erza had to do something, she looked down at the Master Sword. For a second she contemplated it but instantly denying herself the opportunity. She called out to Link.

As if for the first time, Link saw her, he paused for a second then looked down as his eyes lay upon the master sword for the first time since he laid it to rest. The larger beast was already up and was about to attack the demon but Link lay there and looked for lack of a better word shocked.

**(Start the song now!)**

Shaking he stood up and began to walk towards the Master Sword, his eyes gazed only at the beauty of the perfect blade. Erza was on the verge of tears as she saw the wolf approach her. The wolf almost reached her elbows it was so large. She watched as Link simply touched the Master Sword with his nose.

In an instant the wolf and the sword began to glow a glorious sky blue, they were reacting. Erza watched the light grow and shift as Link reached the height of a man. The glow was so bright that even The beast and the etherion had paused to see what was going on. Erza's heart skipped a beat as the light faded and she gazed into the eyes of Link. He looked exactly how she remembered. His blue eyes looked upon her kindly, as tears flowed from her own. He removed her hands from the hilt of the Master Sword which she did willingly and wrapped his own hands around it's hilt. With it's characteristic metallic ring the sword slid easily out of it's pedestal and Link raised it in front of him with a confident grin. Erza watched him turn to the beast and the demon. The demon now seemed enraged, the beast was edging away knowing what was coming.

The demon summoned a tremendous amount of dark power as Link reached for his shield the triforce was glowing wildly on his left hand pulsing with power in the presence of the master sword. The demon raised it's arms and summoned thousands of tiny dark shots and fired them at Link, almost in desperation. Sunlight flashed up Link's blade as he cut straight through the first shot of dark magic. With lightning reflexes and expert agility Link began to perform an intense dance with the sword. No moves were wasted and none of the dozens of dark shots got past Link, every one being destroyed by the now shining sword. Erza then realised the true beauty of the blade, even in her whole arsenal she doubted she had a sword as incredible. Link began to run forward yelling, slicing through the intensifying magic with ease. Erza watched Link in disbelief not blinking once in case she missed something. He was less than three feet from the etherion so he rolled round it and raised his sword to the sky. Light ran up the blade and Erza heard Link yell. "Skyward strike." He brought the holy blade down and plunged the blade into the back of the etherion. The blade shone bright blue as it erupted from the front of the demon glowing with increasing intensity. The etherion of the hunt bellowed in pain as the strike began to expand destroying the etherion from the inside. A vortex of light expanded around Link and the etherion and with a yell Link pulled the blade upwards slicing easily through the demons body. The holy light burned through the etherion of the hunt destroying it completely.

Knightwalker, Scarlet and Iris all watched almost in fear as the green warrior appeared behind the light holding the sword of evil's bane at his side with a look of calm on his face. In triumph he pointed the Master Sword towards the sky, a sense of familiarity and comfort washing over him as he gazed up at his Skyward Sword.


	24. The Return

Chapter 24 - The Return

So this is the last chapter in the Master Sword arc which is a bit of a milestone for me, i hope you've enjoyed the story so far and thank you for all the priase I recieved for the last chapter. The next arc is going to be quite differnet to this one focusing more on the world of Fairy Tail and the guild, it will be a very fairy tail esque set up involving the whole of team Natsu. The next arc will not have huge relevence to the whole story but i figured a lighthearted mini arc is what this story needs before shit goes down. Please tell me what you think of my plans and if you have any ideas for kinds of magic or mini storylines.

Another little plan of mine is to write mini chapters that will feature after the main chapter, these will be of Link's interactions with various guild members who in my opinion don't get enough air time in my story or other little filler stories of people in the fairy tail world. these will be mostly totally irrelevent to the story and will start next chapter if you like the idea.

This chapter really is a round up of the whole arc, lots of hellos and goodbyes and of course the return of Link to Earthland and Fairy Tail.

Sorry for todays enormous chunk of author's notes but i do hope you enjoy the new chapter. Dont forget to fave follow and review!

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Link felt incredible, the sword sat perfectly in his outstretched arm. It felt exactly as he remembered, the holy blade that was simply an extension of his own arm. He lowered the sword holding it perpendicularly to his leg. He looked over to Erza Knightwalker she looked at him with calm eyes, her hulking body rose and fell as she breathed deeply. Link walked up to her putting away his shield. In a moment he stood right in front of the bestial face and rose a hand placing it on her head.

With a smirk he said, "Good job Wolfy." With that Knightwalker instantly growled knocking the warrior over with a soft headbutt. Link laughed as he pulled himself back up. As he got up he placed the flat of his sword on Knightwalker's forehead. Like when Link touched the master sword a blue glow flooded through Erza's body and she slowly underwent a metamorphosis as her large body shrunk back to its normal humanoid shape. Her red hair reappeared and she was left as naked as she was when she was born.

"Humph, so you were a human in the end, not quite how I imagined you but honestly I can't complain." Erza seductively said as she looked up and down Link's body. Link blushed and averted his gaze from his recent companions naked body. "Oh come on it's nothing you haven't seen before wolf." She said hugging his arm pressing her large breasts against his arm. Without warning the two warrior's attentions were turned to a cough they heard from the centre of the sacred realm. Link now blushed in embarrassment as Erza scarlet and Iris looked at him with menacing glares. Scarlet's eyes met Knightwalker's, "Scarlet," Knightwalker greeted.

"Knightwalker," Scarlet returned with equal distaste. The two women's auras violently collided with each other making Link flinch. After a moment Knightwalker sighed and turned back to Link, "Do I not get to find out the name of my hero before we go our separate ways."

Link smiled sadly, "My name's Link, thank you for returning me home."

Erza sighed "C'mere Wolfy, thank you for sharing my adventure with me, even if it was only for a few days." She pulled Link into a hug which he returned happily, "I'll see you again I'm sure of it." she said quietly. Truthfully Link knew he would miss Knightwalker, her bravado and confidence, the dazzling way she fought but most of all moments like this, the tenderness she had that only he knew. A rare tear fell from his eye as he mentally said goodbye. He did wish she could join him for the rest of his journey but knew she simply didn't belong in his world.

"Hey Scarlet I don't suppose you have any clothes I could borrow?" Knightwalker asked. "Although… you are a bit wider around the edges they might not fit me." She teased stepping back fully nude in front of her counterpart, one hand on her hip the other around Link's neck. Erza looked at Link who gave her a pleading look.

"Alright, fine but we don't have much time." Erza said requipping into some normal clothes.

"A bit frilly for me but I can't turn down a free gift." Knightwalker said looking at Erza's standard skirt and blouse.

"Link if you dare peek I will send you to hell and back." Scarlet cautioned looking at Link with terrifying eyes. Knightwalker chuckled before they headed into the corner of the realm.

He turned and faced Iris, he had noticed this but every time they had met, Iris could never look him in the eyes.

"Thank you Iris for helping Erza get here, and thank you for coming yourself."

"It was no problem, I'm just doing my duty." She replied coldly.

Link frowned as he looked at the sheikah, he knew for a fact there was something familiar about her but he couldn't place a finger on it. Before he could continue the conversation he heard Knightwalker and Scarlet behind him. Turning round he really could not tell which one was which other than the way they wore their hair. Scarlet was back in her heart kreuz armour while knightwalker was looking down at her attire.

"You really couldn't have given me anything more, you know, bad ass?" Knightwalker asked.

"Quit complaining already." Scarlet said already fed up with her counterpart.

Suddenly everyone noticed the gates to Earthland beginning to close. Link looked back to Knightwalker a pit forming in his stomach, Knightwalker simply nodded at him, her eyes betraying her. "Thank you… Link. May we meet again, in another life." She said before turning away and walking towards her own gate. Link's eyes widened as he watched her walk away she was about to reach out but stopped himself holding one of his hands solemnly in the other.

With a firm nod he turned towards his own closing gate.

Erza, Link and Iris stepped out of the sacred realm and back into Earthland, the gates behind them sealing shut with a quiet thud. Link turned to face the closed door swearing that the next time these gates would open it would be to safely seal the lost triforce away.

Link stood in the sealed temple, it had been a number of months since his last visit and a number of millennia since he had last seen the sight in front of him. Floating ahead of the hero was a more than familiar face, Link's first companion floated at eye level in front of him. Link could have let of a flood of tears at that moment, he stepped forward in disbelief.

"Fi."

"Master Link I have received…"

"I don't care silly." Link said as he ran past Erza and Iris and embraced his companion. Fi sat awkwardly in the hug.

"Link I am detecting an increasing amount of perspiration coming from your eyes I suggest you wipe them or there is an 85% chance you will be visually impaired temporarily."

Link laughed "It's good to have you back Fi."

"I feel … Happy … to have returned to you too, Master. I hope I can be of service in your new adventure, I have acquired great quantities of data on this new world and will hopefully be as useful as I was in our previous adventure."

"Thank you." Link said releasing the spirit.

"I should introduce you these are my friends, Erza and Iris." Link pointed to each one, Fi hid behind Link. "Master I am unused to human interaction but I would like you to let them know I am obligated to be at their service so long as they are your companions."

"I guess you're a little shy huh?" Link chuckled.

"I am afraid I have no data on 'shy'. I cannot comprehend such a sensation. I will return to your blade now in order to avoid direct contact with your companions." With that she flew into Link's blade. Link chuckled he had missed her. Link sheathed the Master Sword into the empty scabbard it belonged too. It had held two swords since, but this had always been the sword it belonged too. A sense of nostalgia swept over him as he heard the sound it made as it slid into the scabbard.

Iris then began to walk down the stairs. "Link, I will be in touch." She said, Link turned to her as she walked towards the exit.

"Wait, what are you going to do now?" Link asked

"I'm not too sure," she said, "I guess, until I get further instruction I will be on standby but have no doubts we will meet again, you can tell there are forces already in place binding the three of us together." Iris said before she continued walking.

"Wait!" Link said quickly there was an awkward silence as the two seemed to mentally communicate.

"I'm sorry Link, thank you for the offer but you know as well as I that I cannot accept."

Link sighed, "Well, I guess I'll see you around." He said sadly, iris nodded before continuing towards the exit. As the large doors closed behind her Link began to walk down the stairs, he gazed at the giant broken cog frowning before turning to Erza.

"Hello again, Erza." It had been less than a week since they had last seen each other but it had felt so much longer. Erza walked up to Link smiling, she stood on the same step as him when her face changed. She gave him a vicious slap.

"What the hell were you thinking? This is the stupidest most irresponsible stunt you have pulled to date! you make Natsu look like a fricking angel! What were you thinking by getting yourself trapped in Edolas what if you had been five minutes later? what then, huh? You were going to leave me to take up your sword and your destiny that is just irresponsible I told you your punctuality could be your death I gave you clear instruction never to be late again. And then theres your death stunt in the temple, what would have happened if that had failed? The bastard put the sword I gave you right through your heart. Do you know how I felt, do you know what that did too me I have nightmares of that day and I swear if you do that to me again I will resurrect you and… And…" She broke down into tears resting her forehead on his chest' hands balled into tight fists. Link felt awful, she was right he had truly done a horrible thing, Link stepped forwards and held the great Titania as she cried an ocean of tears.

"Erza look at me." Link said. Erza looked up at him.

"I am so sorry for what I did, it was my idea so please don't be angry at Iris or Markarov. Listen.

"I promise with all my heart I will never do that again. I promise I will never leave you like that again. I will always be right here where you can see me. I promise."

Erza pulled Link in tighter crying softly into his shoulder.

"I'm just… Glad your back." She finished.

"So am I"

Sometime later Erza and Link sat on the stairs looking down at the sealed temple. Night had now fallen and the temple was dark. Erza's head rested on Link's shoulder. Link smiled he had a lot of memories of this place a lot of things had happened here all of them, happy and sad, managed to warm his heart.

Erza suddenly stirred, "If you tell anyone I cried I will bury your head in the dirt."

Link chuckled "There's the Erza I know."

Erza smiled looked down at her hand "Link I forgot to give this back to you." Erza removed the golden bracelet.

"Ah, thank you did it come in useful," Link asked.

"Yes it did… At first I couldn't use the spells inside but something strange happened." Erza took off her left gauntlet and showed Link her hand. In shock, he immediately took it and examined the glowing triforce mark on it.

"When did you get this?" He asked comparing it to his own which was also glowing.

"Last night I think, it was while I was sleeping but when I woke up I saw a flash of golden hair." Link pondered what this meant.

"Hey Erz, did you feel a strong connection to one of the three spells in the bracelet? Like there was one that suited you better than the other two."

Erza thought back to what happened in the lost woods. Farore's wind and Naryu's love both worked but they didn't quite feel like Din's fire, that spell seemed to flow out of her incredibly and was easy to control as well. "Yes, Din's fire seemed sort of easier it felt stronger and more comfortable than the other spells."

"Interesting? This is just a guess but I think you have actually been given one of the three pieces of the triforce. The Triforce of Power. Just like you I feel more comfortable with one of the spells but for me it's Farore's wind. I think it might be possible that I have been holding the Triforce of Courage for some time. hold on." Link said. "Fi I need your help." Link announced.

"You are in need of assistance master?" Fi said as she flew put of the master sword.

"Yes Fi your familiar with how the triforce feels right?"

"Yes master, I took data from the pieces when we collected them in Skyloft."

"Could you test for them in both me and Erza."

"I have already completed analysis on that front master, it appears that Erza Scarlet is the current wielder of the Triforce of Power it also seems to have been a recent development from an unknown source. You however Master are currently wielding the Triforce of Courage and have been for quite sometime. Both pieces however are dormant within you and are only passively effecting you at this current time. I must also state that just because you both wield the triforce does not mean you are emotionally linked to one another." Fi turned to Erza as she said this. Link failed to notice the hidden meaning in her words Erza heard but dismissed it in slight confusion.

"Thank you Fi, is there any more information?"

"Other than I believe your companion may still be able to perform the spells you have passed to her as she is now also a bearer of the triforce. Also as previously mentioned at this present time the triforce does not seem to be activated however if there is a change in its current state I will let you know." With this Fi flew back into the sword.

"So she is?" Erza asked

"Oh, that was Fi, she accompanied me throughout my last journey she is the spirit that resides in the Master Sword. She struggles with human emotions but I think she's learning."

"Ah I see, so she will be accompanying us from now on?"

"So long as I have the Master Sword yes."

"Right well it has gotten late and we must sleep it is a long journey back to Magnolia and we don't have your bird to fly us home."

"Ok should I move over there and give you some space?" Link's question seemed to catch Erza of guard she flustered.

"You don't have too it will be warmer if we stay together, I cant have you dying of cold after you just got back." Erza said turning away to hide a blush.

"Ok, I'll stay right here."

"Good." Erza finished Link removed his sword and shield and lay them on the wall next to him. He then relaxed into the wall next to Erza who fell into a dreamless sleep resting her head on his shoulder. Link stayed awake and looked up at the stars it was good to be home.

(…)

Almost a week later Link and Erza finally set foot in Magnolia, the streets were just as lively and vibrant as normal. Vendors sold their wares, kids ran up and down the streets and adults made polite conversation as they wandered aimlessly through the town. Link looked up past the red tiled roofs seeing the towers of the great cathedral pierce the sky. Erza and Link wearily walked through the streets they knew so well, almost everybody recognised the two mages and would give little bows and curtsies of respect as the pair walked past. Personally Link didn't like the attention, Erza had simply given up protesting against it but would still return the gestures of grace.

As they approached the guild hall Erza picked up on a familiar scent, she turned her head towards a patisserie on the side of the road.

"Link, I want cake." She demanded.

"Cake?" Link asked, he knew she was fond of it but now seemed fairly inappropriate.

"Yes, cake, thanks to you I haven't had cake in long over a week and besides you owe me."

"For what, I thought you'd forgiven me?"

"Well if you don't buy me cake, I'll tell the whole guild about you and Erza Knightwalker." She threatened. Link's face turned instantly red.

"Erza, you know that was nothing." He panicked.

"Sure, sure you know your reaction was truly priceless I wonder if I could reenact the scene in front of the guild and get the same reaction…"

"Okay okay, I'll buy you a cake." Link surrendered, there was no way he was winning this.

"Good dog." Erza teased.

"Shut up and choose a cake already."

It wasn't long after before four sore feet entered the Fairy Tail guild hall. Erza stood there in sheer bliss as he placed a forkful of the most expensive cake in the shop in her mouth, and Link stood there his tiredness clearly showing.

The instant the guild saw the two mages enter the building they fell silent.

"Link's… alive?" Erza heard Macao say in disbelief. She realised that they had been away for almost two weeks and the guild had probably heard the rumours.

"Link! Your back, I knew you hadn't bitten the dust." Jet said as he ran up to hug the swordsman. In an instant the whole guild was patting Link on the back, Link smiled as he greeted everyone. Erza just managed to jump out of the way saving her cake with a sigh of relief. Before he could be totally swamped with people there came a commanding cough from behind the guild. The crowd parted allowing a path for the Master to walk through.

"Son, It's good to have you back, and Erza well done getting him back here in one piece. I will expect you to report to me later but for now rest yourselves up you've no doubt had a long journey." The guild cheered again at Link's return from death and slowly left back to their seats. Link and Erza went over to the bar both of them really needing a drink.

"It's good to have you back guys, can I get you something to drink?" Mira asked

"If you would thanks." Link replied smiling Mira quickly returned with two mugs of ale and a barrel for Cana. Link and Erza took the mugs and spied Natsu and the rest of their team in the corner.

"Yo, Link is that a new sword?" Gray asked as they sat at the table.

"Not quite this sword is older than the whole of Fiore." Link replied "This is the sword I used three thousand years ago before Hyrule was born." He drew the sword and lay it down on the table.

"It's beautiful." Lucy gasped as she looked at the ancient blade.

"I more or less forged her myself." Link said proudly.

"Hey, Link do you mind if I have a go?" Natsu asked excitedly.

"Urm? You can try…" Natsu made a grab for it and tried to lift it off the table but it didn't move. The sword had rejected him. Natsu fell over in surprise when the blade lit up and Fi shot up out of it. "I apologise but you are not the master and you are therefore unable to wield this sword."

Team Natsu and the other members of the guild gasped in surprise at the spirit that had just appeared. Link took the master sword and sheathed it.

"Who are you?" Wendy asked as she looked up at the floating spirit.

"I am the spirit that resides in the Master Sword, you may call me Fi. I am a servant to Master Link" The guild members looked at Link incredulously. Link shrugged

"She's a close friend of mine and one of us now."

"Master I am afraid the number of people in the near proximity is impeding on my internal processes I will be inside the sword if you need me." Fi stuttered Link could see she was really not used to large crowds. Just as she was about to jump back into the sword a tiny hand grabbed onto her robe. Fi looked down to see the tiny confused face of Asuka Connell. The young girl suddenly beamed and announced "Fairy!" Fi turned and floated upside down her face inches away from the small child. Asuka giggled and reached out hugging the spirit of the sword. "You appear to be mistaken in your conclusion, I am not a fairy I am a spirit." Fi announced, Asuka then donned her cute but surprisingly menacing grumpy face. Fi didn't know how to react to the child and after a time processing what was going on the spirit smiled. "If that is how you wish to address me then you may call me Fairy." The spirit said to the young girl. Asuka repeated "Fairy." numerous times before leading Fi away from the group. Link smiled as he watched Fi play with the child.

"So Link are you going to tell us what happened to you or what." Natsu asked loudly.

"What did you find in the lake? Was there fish?" Happy asked.

"And what took you so long?" Gray added.

Link sighed. Before he could answer Erza interrupted "We ran into some complications, I'll tell you later after the Master hears about all this for now me and Link need some rest." The moment she said this Link felt the fatigue of two weeks travel on his shoulders he had forgotten what it felt like to be on your feet for so long.

"Erza's right, I'll tell master about it first thing tomorrow then I'll tell you guys." Team Natsu nodded as Link stood up he looked over to Fi she was playing with Asuka on the stage smiling as Asuka attempted pirouettes copying Fi's graceful movements. Fi noticed Link get up and floated over to him. "Master are we departing." Link nodded. Fi turned to the child who frowned and looked as if she were about to cry. "Mistress Asuka, I will return tomorrow and will play with you then our short time together appears to closely correlate to Link's definition of fun." Asuka looked confused at Fi's long words. Bisca kneeled down next to her daughter,

"She will be back again tomorrow so there's no need to cry besides it's nearing your bedtime young missy."

"No it's not." Asuka said defiantly before yawning loudly.

"I think it is." Alzack said, as he picked Asuka up she instantly began to drift away in her father's arms, the ballet had really taken it out of her. With that the family, Erza and Link left the Guildhall.

Link climbed the ladder to his home after wishing Erza a good night. Airya was dozing on her perch but woke up to greet Link before he entered the house. Link removed the Master Sword and Hylian shield and rested them on the sofa he then quickly climbed up the ladder and flopped onto the bed. It had been a long two weeks and unfortunately there were a few things on his mind. Sure he now had the Master Sword back and would be able to fight Zeref but he had no idea what the dark mage was planning. When he closed his eyes he could vividly see the mans dead black eyes. What ever Zeref was planning it couldn't be good. Link had to be ready.

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So to summarise the beginning i have a couple of questions that i would love for you to answer

1\. What do you think of having mini chapters at the end of each main chalter?.

2\. Any ideas of kinds of magic i could introduce, i have some ideas but i would like your input for more ideas?

3\. Anything i as an fan fic writer need to improve on

please tell me these things either as a review or a PM it will really help the story be better in future if i know what you all think of it and what you all want

Thank you!.


	25. Of Love and War

Chapter 25 - Of Love and War

So following on from last week, Link now has the Master sword and had been reunited with Fi, Erza and the rest of Fairy Tail. So whats next for our noble adventurer, welcome to the insurrection arc. I hope you enjoy it. :P

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"That's quite the adventure Link." Lucy said as Link finished telling the tale of the recent weeks to his team, leaving out a few 'minor' details.

"I really liked the part with the fish people!" Happy said excitedly.

"Who knew there was a whole civilisation under the lake?" Wendy pondered.

"As exciting as that is Zeref is an imminent threat and it is up to us to deal with it." Erza stated.

"But Erza we don't even know where to begin, no one has been able to track him down since Tenrou Island." Carla replied.

Link and Natsu were both rather silent as the rest of the team discussed the new information, the weight of fate heavy on their shoulders. As the arguing climaxed they decided to step in. Both of them at the same time stood up bashed their hands of the table and yelled "Would you guys quit it!" Everyone fell silent. Natsu allowed Link to step forward.

"Carla is right, we have no lead on the location of Zeref but whatever he is planning... it can't be good. Zeref has however left many evil artefacts around Fiore. From what I've heard the books of Zeref contain incredible dark magic. If someone were to get their hands on one them it could be a disaster. I think until we get a lead on Zeref we should focus on retrieving these artefacts and stopping anything bad happening."

"I'm afraid I have to agree with Link on this." Markarov interrupted as he leapt up onto the table. "We will make this the current top priority for the S-Class mages in Fairy Tail. You should also know that Gildarts has actually been investigating these books for some time now. If you want any leads then he's the one you need to talk too. He told me he'd be in town in a week so maybe wait until then hmm."

"That sounds good master." Erza stated.

"Yeh, Cheers gramps." Natsu shouted as Markarov abandoned the team for the bar.

"Right so for now we can relax?" Gray asked.

"Yes I think so. Erza I need to talk to you outside for a minute." Link said, Lucy and Happy giggled whilst looking at them suspiciously. Erza simply ignored them saying "Right."

(…)

Link and Erza sat on a bench out the back of the guild facing the lake. "What's going on Link?" Erza asked.

"Erza how exactly does your requipping work?" Erza looked puzzled but answered the question.

"I keep most of my armour and weapons in a pocket dimension and am able to summon them when I need them."

"Right how do you get them to the pocket dimension?"

"There is a special ritual that I perfected for use with both armours and weapons why are you asking?"

Link brought out a small bag from his pouch and opened it to let Erza look inside. Inside the bag was a black crystal that seemed to ooze darkness.

"Link what is that?" Erza asked frowning.

"It is a crystal produced by the demon I fought, it turns anyone who touches it into a beast. For most people there is no counter curse but I have the Master sword that will heal me if I touch it. So I was thinking if I place it and the Master sword in a pocket dimension I can switch between forms at will."

Erza frowned. "Link I really don't think you should be dabbling in this dark magic." Link looked at her pleadingly. Erza sighed. "In theory it could work, as a human you could requip the stone and transform into a wolf then as a wolf you could requip the master sword and transform back. But there are issues: you can't speak as a wolf so you will not be able to use incantations which would make it harder also the Master sword may not be able to be transferred into a pocket dimension especially since there is a spirit living in it. The other issue is I don't believe you are quite ready to learn requipping magic just yet your magical level is far to undisciplined."

"But it's worth a shot right? I mean being able to transform into a wolf must have it's perks."

"I guess but there are far better ways of doing it, although this works in theory we have no idea what the repercussions and consequences there could be."

Fi flew out the sword. "Master, I can confirm that there is an 88% probability this will end badly, one previous wielder of the Master sword had a similar ability to you and could transform into a wolf in the presence of dark magic as a defence mechanism, the process was a product of the piece of the triforce he wielded, but the hero overused this ability and it had many negative repercussions, I have in fact collected data on all kinds of magic in this world and within the guild. I can conclude that there is a person in the guild who will easily be able to teach you a safer way to transform into a wolf, and with your magical capabilities I calculate there is a 70% chance you are compatible with this kind of magic."

"Fi makes a good point I'm sure the Strauss siblings will help you." Erza suggested.

"I never thought of that," Link said, "I never really thought I could learn a new kind of magic so easily."

"We never said it would be easy just safer." Erza said, Link nodded.

"I guess I should destroy this." Link said holding up the stone.

"Master, my data shows that destroying it with the Master sword will lead to total annihilation with no residue of dark magic."

"Right, okay then." Link said placing the crystal on the floor. Quickly he drew the Master sword and Fi flew into it. He raised the sword and pointed down towards the ground, for a moment he hesitated looking at stone with a slight sense of longing.

"Link," Erza said bringing to warrior back to his senses. Link nodded and with a swift motion the stone was destroyed, exploding into a black cloud of dust that quickly destabilised and disappeared. Link felt a small pressure leaving his shoulders.

"Good, now go and see if you can learn transformation magic." Erza suggested, Link nodded smiling and ran off to find Mirajane.

(One week later)

Link left the guild early that evening, there was no particular reason, maybe he just wanted some fresh air. He closed the doors behind him sealing in the rabble of brawling mages. With a sigh Link looked up to the night sky, compared to the rowdy guild this was so peaceful. Link had always been on the more introverted side of the scale and preferred to be in less crowded places but in Fairy Tail he had truly come to appreciate life and how fun it could be. A voice came from the side.

"Evening kid." Link looked round to face a tall middle aged man sporting red hair and an unkempt stubble.

"Gildarts." Link greeted. They had met briefly at Yuletide but had never spoken at length.

"We should talk, follow me." Link nodded and followed the crash mage as he walked down the main street towards the cathedral. As they reached the front of the cathedral Gildarts jumped, clearing the roof easily, leaving a crater in the earth below. Link wasn't especially surprised at his power, this was Fairy Tails top mage. Link brought out his clawshot and ascended the building.

When he reached the top he saw Gildarts sitting in the arcade looking up at the sky. Link could tell he did this often due to the cool-box, mat and other bits of furniture strewn around the place it was like a little home.

"If your really looking for a retreat from the rest of them this is the best place. Welcome Link to the best view in Fiore." Gildarts announced chuckling as he passed Link a beer. Link couldn't disagree the sight from up here was truly stunning from the glistening city to the vast forest and the colossal mountains beyond. Link sighed sat down next to the mage.

"Are you living here?" Link asked.

"Call it a temporary getaway you can see my real house from here but it doesn't hold a candle to this place. This place holds a lot of memories for me. Oh, great tip girls will not be able to resist you if you bring them up here." Link looked shocked as Gildarts laughed. "Why I even lost my vir…"

"Woah too much information." Link interrupted as he spat out his beer and Gildarts roared with laughter.

"So… I've heard from the guild your pretty strong. Going toe to toe with Erza and coming out alive is no mean feat." Gildarts complimented.

Link relaxed and looked up. "That maybe true but I'm still no where near strong enough to fight Zeref."

"Ah but you didn't have that fancy sword last time did you."

"It's not the sword that wins the fight it's the man behind it."

"Heh, you've spoken like a true swordsman." The air fell silent as Gildarts bathed in the starlight.

"Is there a reason you wanted me up here or was it just to show me the view?" Link asked.

"Why can't it just be for the view? Listen Link, yes people like us have to fight but that means the times of peace become all the more important you've got to take time and enjoy the world you protect or you'll become bitter and hateful towards it."

Link took time to contemplate his words.

"Although, Markarov has informed me of your little encounter with Zeref, nicely avoided by the way, but there are a few things that Markarov told me that worries me."

Link nodded in agreement.

"First is that he seems to believe Natsu may be the only one who can beat him he said something similar on Tenrou island. I'm not particularly worried about that though. Natsu's a strong kid, when it really matters I have no doubt he will pull through. What really worries me is what Zeref is planning. Listen Link, me and a few of the other S-Class mages from numerous guilds have been working on the removal of Zeref's artefacts for a while. Of course after Mystogan left I'm the only one in Fairy Tail who is still on the case. I am going to continue the search for Zeref on my own, so I would rather you stayed out of the way and save me worrying about you however you will be the first one to hear if I find anything."

"You sure there's nothing I can do to help you right now?"

"Hmm your eager, in fairness Markarov did want me to pass this on to you. My sources say that in the northern province lies a weapon created using the Books of Zeref known as the Staff of Insurrection. I don't know a great deal about it but it is on the other side of the Giant's Pass. I don't know what you will go up against or how you will find the staff but I have heard that Abbadon the guild master of the guild Insignia is after it, make sure it does not fall into enemy hands, Abaddon's or anybody else who could be after it. Once you've retrieved it contact me and we'll organise a place to meet up and destroy it. I recommend you take the whole Team Natsu with you, you may need the extra hands."

"Right," Link answered. Again they fell silent for a while.

"So you reached second base with Erza yet." Gildarts teased, again Link spat out his beer shocked at the change in atmosphere. "Hey watch it that beer is good stuff. Seriously though everyone in the guild has placed bets on how long it will take for you to actually hook up."

"Ah I see so your allotted time is coming up is it." Link glared at him.

"That's not important, fact is ever since you arrived I've never seen her frown. She's really into you Link."

Link looked away guiltily.

"I see, there's another girl isn't there." Gildarts stated knowingly. Link looked surprised but surrendered to the older man.

"Yeh, but I haven't seen her in months and we didn't leave each other on the best of terms."

"Sounds brutal."

"I guess it was, it was partially my fault I guess, I just found I wasn't suited to a life in one place. I remember sitting on a sofa with her sleeping on my lap, she looked so peaceful and beautiful I was the luckiest man alive but my feet were itching, in fact my whole body was itching. I simply couldn't sit still I had to get up. Subconsciously I wanted to see the world, to solve the great mysteries of the earth, to travel to the great sea and beyond. When I heard the goddesses call I followed it up immediately not even thinking of what and who I would leave behind. That caused us to have the biggest fight of our lives so big in fact I simply left I jumped right through the one way portal and arrived here. The second I came out the other side I regretted it but by then it was too late. It's unlikely I will ever see her again."

Gildarts sighed. "You and me are more similar than I imagined, we both can't sit still. Even though we have a place to call home, we end up spending more time away from it than in it. I've been through exactly the same thing. My feet dragged me away from her and I never saw her again. Matters of the heart are always the toughest to overcome but you should know that if you truly love someone and they truly love you then it will all work out in the end after all it did for me."

Link stayed silent pondering the information.

"Hey, Link this is the necklace I proposed with," he brought out of his coat a simple leather cord dangling from it was a silver ring with a ruby inset in it. "I don't need this anymore so I want you to have it, when you find the girl of your dreams give it to her and do not make the same mistake I did because giving it to her means staying by her side for the rest of your life no matter what." Gildarts placed the necklace in Link's hand looking into his eyes with a serious look on his face.

"Gildarts, I cant accept this, it's the last memory of your wife."

"No, it's not the last thing." He said looking back towards the heavens. "She left me one final gift. A gift I never deserved." Link decided not to press anymore information out of him. He looked at the ring and sighed before placing it in his pouch.

"Thank you." Link quietly said.

"Ah, don't mention it, just do me a favour and hook up before the grand magic games kay." The pair chuckled and fell silent as they watched the stars shine down on the earth below.

* * *

**Side chapter - Transformation**

so this is a new thing i'm working on, short mini chapters to try and introduce more members of the guild to the story, some will be reasonably important some won't but they are mainly just little head-canons i came up with for my story. I may not do these every week as exams are approaching but i will try my best. The first one takes place during the above chapter and you can probably guess what it's about from the title. Hope you enjoy it.

* * *

Link walked into the guild, it seemed a lot emptier than normal but Link realised a lot of people had left on jobs recently including almost all of team Natsu, team Shadow Gear, the ever elusive Thunder Legion and most others. Fortunately for him Mira was still at the bar as usual washing a few mugs.

"Mira," Link called as he waved and walked over to the white haired mage.

"Link, looks like your feeling a lot better than yesterday," Mira said happily.

"Yeh, I still haven't totally recovered but hey."

"That's good to hear. Can I get you anything to drink?" Mira smiled sweetly.

"Urm, I'm fine thank you, but I do need your help with something if you don't mind."

"Oh?"

"If you have time would you mind teaching me transformation magic."

"I guess I could but my last attempt at teaching people transformation magic went badly, then again Natsu was involved so I guess it was inevitable." Link looked at her with pleading eyes, she sighed. "Alright, I'll try to teach you, help me finish up and we'll head over to the park so we have some room."

Link cheered inside. "Thanks Mira!" He said grinning.

(…)

Link sat cross-legged in front of Mira in the centre of the park, hovering behind her in the air were many complex diagrams which Link assumed was the theory behind transformation magic. Link had spent half an hour listing to Mira's lecture but if he was honest he couldn't understand anything. It didn't help that certain distractions got in the way of his education mainly Mira's considerable assets. Link had heard that Mira was a part time model, and a popular one at that, and right now he could see why. Link knew Elfman would kill him if he knew he was checking Mira out but he doubted any man could resist.

"Link are you listening to me." Mira said with an angry scowl on her face.

"Wait what?" Link asked coming out of his daze.

"None of this is sinking in is it." Mira stated, Link chuckled embarrassedly blushing.

"Sorry Mira it's not you but I don't know any magical theory so none of this makes sense, I never think about that side of magic I just kinda do it."

Mira sighed, "Your like a lot of people then, right in that case get up." Link stood up facing Mira. "Right lets start again, transformation magic allows your to alter your form into something else, I can perform demon take overs. The best way to do this is to channel your innermost dark desires, anger, pride, gluttony, lust." Mira said closing her eyes, Link flinched hearing her voice it immediately sounded darker and more evil. Link closed his eyes and tried to copy her. "When you concentrate on these desires magical energy will be produced, you must channel this energy all the way around your body and when you hit the peak of your magical energy you perform the incantation." Mira took a long breath before shouting. "Demon takeover: satan's soul." Link gasped as light took over Mira's body wings sprouted out of her back and her normal long red dress changed into that of a skin tight bodysuit. When the light subsided Link recoiled in fear, her face had changed completely, becoming harsh and angular her eyes firm and unremitting. A scar ran down from her left eye giving her a terribly menacing appearance.

"Your turn," she grinned evilly. Link was totally put off by the intense personality change.

"R…right." Link nodded.

He tried to channel his dark emotions and slowly he began to feel a small amount of magical energy being produced it was menial but it was a start, slowly he spread it thinly around his body concentrating with all his might until. "Demon takeover: satan's soul!" Link yelled and light surrounded him causing even Mira to shield herself. "Ha, he's actually managing it, not bad for a whelp… Wait what?" The light dissipated and Link was left exactly as he was except for one tiny detail. Mira burst out laughing cruelly pointing at the young swordsman. Link looked down his body to find no change until he turned around. "Oh, this is too good," Mira yelled "I cant believe it, they're so damn cute you little devil!" Demon Mira laughed. Link looked behind him and saw two tiny black bat wings on his back. Link looked at them in shock before moving them to their full wing span which barely reached his arms, he could also feel tiny black horns sprouting out of his head. Eventually Mirajane turned back to her normal self wiping her eyes in laughter,

"It's a good try for a first attempt but truth is I think a demon takeover is impossible for you, you don't have a bad bone in your body. Still the wings suit you."

Link sighed embarrassed as he looked at his puny wings flapping them slightly. Mira continued her unrelenting laughing fit, somehow turning into a demon had given her a total personality change.

In an instant the woman stood back up smiled brightly and back in her ususal voice said, "Well I ought to get back to the guild, I'll see you later Link."

"Wait, Mira how do I get these off!" Link called out to her. Mira just laughed and waved as she walked away. "Geez, Mira really changes after a demon transformation." Link said scratching his head.

"Oy, brother, I heard you were back in town!" A booming voice called. Link looked over to the other side of the park to see Elfman standing there at the top of a flight of stairs with his arms folded across his chest. "A real man wouldn't wear such unmanly wings let me show you a manly takeover!" Elfman yelled. "Beast soul!" He roared and quickly turned into an enormous red beast with golden horns. With a bellow he jumped clearing the stairs and landing close to Link leving large cracks in the earth below him. "You want to transform, you gotta channel your inner manliness then let it all out. However I find channeling my beast soul easiest when I'm in a tough situation. Think fast!" Elfman brought a fist down on Link who panicked and quickly dodged and began to run around the park away from the beast.

"Elfman, is this really necessary?" He called as the beast chased him leaving behind a trail of destruction.

"Real men don't back down." Elfman roared charging at Link. Link looked in panic at the oncoming monster. Just as he got close Links instincts automatically kicked in without his control. As a fist descended on him link caught it with both hands and with bestial strength threw beast Elfman right over his shoulder forcing him into the ground behind him with a terrible crash. Without any real control Link jumped up and finished the beast with a swift punch to the face. Landing on two feet behind the colossal beast, only then did Link realise. "Oh crap I went too far, Elfman are you okay."

Steam rose from the beasts body as it shrunk back down to Elfman's normal size he was beat up and could only just speak. "You are a bigger man than me Link," he gasped before collapsing. Link scratched the back of his head, he had no idea how he was going to get the enormous man back to the guild hall.

"Elfman!" Link heard a young girl call. "Link is he okay?" Link watched as a small girl with short white hair ran up to her brother. "Jeez, Link you really cant hold back, your worse than Erza." Lisanna said looking at him.

Link bowed his head and took his cap off. "I'm so sorry will he be alright."

"Oh don't be sorry silly, he brought this upon himself attacking you like that. Besides he's been through worse than this he will be fine soon. What were you doing anyway, and whats with the cute wings?" Link flushed in embarrassment and Lisanna giggled sweetly.

"Well Mira and Elfman were trying to teach me takeover magic as it turns out I'm not particularly good at it."

"Well you must have some talent for it, not many people can produce wings like that at all, and for you to perform a demon takeover seems a bit strange so you've done well, especially in one afternoon."

"Thanks I guess." Link grinned.

"The trouble is you have chosen the two worst teachers in the guild let me teach you okay?"

"Alright I should give it another shot," Link said.

"Right, first things first. What made you want to take up transformation magic."

"Well, for a while I was in Edolas." Lisanna flinched causing link to stop.

"Sorry, urm please continue."

"However while I was there I was trapped in the form of a wolf and actually it was really useful so I wondered if I could learn transformation magic to allow me to become a wolf at will."

"I see, well that certainly is possible, you should have come to me first, animal takeovers are my specialty." Lisanna said proudly. "What you need to understand is that takeover magic is different for everyone which means it requires a different trigger for each person, for Mira it's dark emotions, for Elfman it's manliness and for me it is my personality that allows me to transform into animals. You need to remember what being a wolf felt like and awaken those memories, hopefully that will be the trigger for the transformation, do you get it?"

"I think so, let me try this then." Link said closing his eyes in concentration.

He thought back to how his body felt, how he ran, how he fought, how he felt when hunting with the other wolves, his relationship with Erza knightwalker. Suddenly he felt an intense influx of magic power, he had found his entry point, letting the memories and emotions wash over his body he began to build up large amounts of magic power, like Mira had taught him he spread the magic around his body letting it take hold of every fibre of his being and like Elfman had taught him he prepared himself for a desperate situation hoping it would improve the takeover. When the magic reached it's peak he opened his feral eyes and called out. "Beast Soul: Spirit Wolf. Link's body was surrounded by light attracting the eyes of any passersby. Slowly he felt his body mould, it wasn't a sickly feeling like the demons magic it felt good, it felt strong. The light subsided and Lisanna jumped into the air in delight.

"You did it Link, a full body takeover in one day!" She yelled in delight before running up to pat the large wolf that Link had become. Link welcomed her embrace, slowly tensing every muscle in his body to check it had worked. When he was satisfied he grinned inside and began to lick lisanna's face. "Hey, Link that's disgusting." she yelled. Link then pulled out of her embrace and began running around the park. Testing out his new body, looking over himself he looked exactly the same as he had in Edolas which he was glad about, although the process had taken quite a bit of magical energy from him. Suddenly his vigilant eyes caught something in Lisanna's hand. Link's heart started racing and he instinctively fell onto his front legs panting. Lisanna raised a stick into the air and threw it as far as she could. Only on instinct Link ran to chase after the stick leaping into the air to catch it. After landing he immediately dropped it in disgust, dammit I'm not a dog I'm a wolf I shouldn't fall for her tricks. Link told himself before glaring at Lisanna.

"Changing back is exactly the same process, focus on your human body and how it feels then transform, all this gets easier the more you do it, Me, Mira and Elfman hardly have to think before performing a take over now." Link nodded before closing his eyes again. Moments later Link stood in exactly the same position now in human form.

"You did it Link well done!"

"Thank you so much Lisanna I couldn't have done it without your help, I'm going to show Erza thank you!" Link said as he ran up some stairs to find the guildhall.

Before lisanna could mention it Link, his new wolf ears and his long bushy tail positioned neatly on his lower back were no where to be seen.

"Well, I guess he needs a bit more practice." Lisanna sighed before turning to face the park. Her mouth fell wide open at the sheer damage Elfman and Link had dealt on the park, but she soon fell into a laugh thinking about how Markarov would react.

"C'mon Elfman let's go home." She said picking up the hulking man with relative ease.


	26. An Evening at the Spa

**Chapter 26 - An Evening at the Spa**

**Hello again everyone, so now we've reached chapter twenty six, which means i've been wrting this fan-fic for over half a year now. Therefore i would like to send out the biggest thanks to everyone who has read the fanfiction. I sincerely hope you've enjoyed me throw up my random ideas onto an enormous word document and called it a fanfiction.**

**So this chapter is a bit of a filler/set up for the next arc and is much more light hearted and fun than the gildarts chapter. I am still in the middle lf writing this damn arc which is proving a lot more difficult than normal (i blame complex OC's). But so far i'm really liking it and i cant wait for you to read it. **

**Thank you all for sticking with me and i hope all you lovely people continue to read and enjoy it! Enjoy!**

* * *

Some time later the whole of Team Natsu began their expedition. It took less than a day to reach the spa town of Hosenka arriving in the late afternoon. Natsu fell out of the train flat on his face. The strong dragon slayer had been reduced to a frothing mess on the floor.

"Get up already Natsu, your not on the train anymore." Erza ordered as set off to collect her vast amounts of luggage. Natsu responded with a muffled groan.

"Sorry Natsu, you've become too resistant to my Troya spell, it just won't work any more." Wendy apologised.

"It's not your fault child, there is no need to apologise." Carla sternly told. Wendy frowned and went back to rubbing Natsu's back.

"Is he always like this?" Link asked having rarely got on a train with the motion sick Natsu.

"Unfortunately. We've tried to get him help but nothing seems to work, it's apparently a dragon slayer thing, we were surprised he didn't feel anything when he was riding Airya to Castelia." Lucy sighed.

In less than a second Natsu leapt up fire flying from his mouth.

"Ah, we're here already that was quick." He yelled instantly rejuvenated.

"Oy, flame brain stop spitting fire before you break something." Gray yelled.

"What did you say ice breath, all I can hear is the whining of a little girl." Natsu taunted.

Wendy shouted "Hey!" As Lucy sighed. "Meet my mature boyfriend everyone."

At this point the two guys began wrestling in the middle of the platform like two overgrown children.

"I thought I told you two to stop fighting in public." Erza leered over the two boys who cowered in fear. Link chuckled nervously as he witnessed the more menacing side of Erza, thinking about the necklace Gildarts gave him.

"Anyway it will be dark soon so it will be unwise to go down through the mountain pass, I suggest we stay here for the night and head up tomorrow." Erza said.

"Sounds good I need some spa treatment." Lucy said as she closely inspected her skin and nails.

"That sounds fun maybe we can stay in those hot springs we were at last time." Wendy suggested.

"Sounds good, but no sake for you girls we don't want a repeat of last time." Gray said.

"What happened last time?" Link asked, the previous occurrence had happened before Link joined the guild.

"You don't want to know." Natsu said as he shivered in a corner.

"Well then let's move." Erza commanded.

"Aye sir." Happy shouted as he flew ahead of the group.

(…)

Late that evening the women of Team Natsu sat inside a small sauna, the heat tinting their cheeks pink.

"Ahh it's so nice to get away from the boys for a while." Lucy sighed as she sunk into her seat.

"They are rather rowdy, and did you see Natsu's table manners, I would have thought you would have taught him by now, are you not embarrassed Lucy." Carla complained.

"Believe me I've tried teaching him but Natsu was raised by a dragon it will take something more than that to fix his table manners."

"How are you and Natsu anyway?" Wendy asked shyly.

"We're fine, I mean sure he's a slob and he's dirty and he eats like a pig. But honestly he is the sweetest, gentlest guy I know. I'm glad I asked him out." Lucy said looking at the ceiling. Wendy sighed wishing she had her own knight in shining armour. Erza sat quietly listening to the conversation and thinking upon her own love issues. She was caught rather unaware when Wendy addressed her.

"Sorry what I didn't hear?" She asked.

"I said, what about you and Link whats happening between you two?"

Erza suddenly got flustered. "What… Me and Link...Nothing at all, What do you mean? us two? We're just friends."

Lucy nodded to herself. "Textbook reaction you definitely like him."

"I don't know what your talking about." Erza said menacingly, Lucy didn't seem to notice.

"Well you two are very close you haven't been on a mission without him, when he went on that mission with Cana you actually went out after him." Carla stated.

"I realised the job should have in fact been S-class, Link and Cana are not an S-Class mages so I thought it best that I go to make sure Link was ok."

"So you admit you were concerned about Link." Lucy teased.

"Of course… not, Link is perfectly capable of handling himself."

"So did you really need to go with them?"

"Of course I did."

"And why did you need to go with them?" Wendy asked.

"Because I was worried Cana was going to steal him away from me."

"Aha got you." Lucy said high fiving Wendy.

Erza covered her mouth and turned red, "I really do like Link don't I?" She said.

"Uh-huh you got struck by the love bug." Everyone fell silent and stared at Lucy. "I said that out loud didn't I," The other three nodded. "Anyway that's not important now you've admitted it we can head to the next stage."

"And what's that?" Erza asked curiously.

"Getting him to like you back." Lucy said as if it was obvious.

Erza wasn't best pleased that she had no experience in this area and was forced to say. "How?"

"That's easy simply act like you don't care for him at all, that always make them want you more." Carla said.

"And look how far that's gotten you with Happy." Wendy said, "it's easier than that just kiss him that's sure to work."

"No Wendy, for this kind of operation something so blunt just won't work." Lucy said.

"Surely he should just like me for who I am." Erza stated.

"No! to make a man like you you must use all of your wit, all your guile and all your cleavage. By the end of the night Link will have no choice but to fall for you, Here's the plan." Lucy announced.

(…)

Natsu burst into the room the guys were sleeping in, Happy zoomed in as Link and Gray were brushing their teeth.

"Yo, guys we should totally prank the girls!" Natsu announced.

"Aye!" Happy agreed.

"And do what?" Link mumbled, mouth full of toothpaste.

Gray spat out his toothpaste. "I am not getting involved in your shenanigans again, last time Erza knocked me out for a whole day."

"Really? That does sound like something Erza would do. Even so you probably deserved it." Link decided.

"Aye but Erza's still pretty harsh, she once tried to drop kicked me to the moon when I saw her and Jellal kiss." Happy complained.

"You totally deserved that, and besides imagine if it was Lucy and not Erza. Some of the time Lucy is much scarier than Erza." Natsu shuddered.

"Careful that's your girlfriend your talking about." Gray warned

"Wait a second did you say Erza kissed someone?" Link said trying not to look bothered.

"Aye it was a while before you got here, just before the grand magic games." Happy replied, "My butt still hurts from thinking about it." Link looked away in thought.

"Why do you ask Link?" Natsu asked cluelessly.

"What? Oh no reason just wondering," Natsu shrugged his answer off as Gray nodded knowingly. Link finished brushing his teeth and removed his chain-mail and tunic leaving him in just his plain long sleeved shirt. "Just out of interest and for no other reason... who did she kiss?"

"I knew it, you do care don't you!" Natsu accused.

"What of course I don't! I'm just interested you don't hear much about Erza's love life at the guild." Link lied.

"Ha what love life, she fancied Jellal since she was a little kid, he turned evil and betrayed her, went on to almost sacrifice her for Zeref before he had his memories wiped and became good." Gray explained.

"Now jellal has a 'fiancé', which is bullshit, and rejected Erza after they kissed last summer leaving her heartbroken despite the fact they still both like each other." Natsu finished.

"This guy sounds like a jerk." Link said grumpily.

"For a good while I thought so too but he seems to have changed since he formed Crime Sorcière. Then again we haven't bumped into them since the grand magic games so hey." Gray said.

"Yup but I hope we bump into the bastard soon I haven't whacked him for rejecting Erza yet." Natsu said cracking his knuckles. The conversation moved on as Link pondered the information. What kind of jackass rejects someone like Erza. He must be pretty damn conceited to think he could land someone better. But he was only thinking this to hide his fear that Erza may still like this Jellal.

(A little bit later)

The girls had left the sauna and had manoeuvred themselves into a tactical position for the operation (the front door to the guys bedroom).

"Okay Erza this is it, you ready to bring home the bacon?" Lucy asked.

Erza nodded readily ignoring her peculiar phrasing.

"We believe in you Erza." Wendy encouraged.

"I have no doubts you can pull this off, you'll be fine." Carla joined in.

"Ok I can do this." Erza said with confidence clenching her fist. "And no spying on me I can handle this alone."

"Of course, wouldn't dream of it." Lucy lied. Erza peeked round the door, sure enough the guys were all in there and… Link was topless, holy shit Erza could have fainted right there. She turned back to Lucy shivering in fear.

"What do I do, he's topless?" Erza said timidly.

"Oo really let me se… Urm I mean, come on Erza! You're better than that you can defeat 100 monsters without breaking a sweat, you're the mighty Titania use his toplessness to your advantage." Lucy replied. Erza put on a brave face, She's right I am the mighty Titania I will conquer this just like any other beast, I can't surrender before I've even begun.

"Hurry up and get in there." Lucy shoved Erza into the room.

The boys were quite surprised when Erza almost fell into their room wearing nothing but a towel revealing a large amount of her 'modest' breasts while holding two wine glasses and a bottle of wine, her Fairy Tail symbol clearly on display on her arm.

"What's going on Erza?" Gray asked.

Erza struggled against a blush but managed to retain her composure. "Gray, Natsu, Happy, Lucy is in need of your assistance I suggest you leave right away." She commanded.

"Ehh, Why does she need all three of us?" Natsu asked

"What can we do that you can't handle?" Gray thought out loud. Erza gave her most menacing death stare all the guys flinched except Link who was oblivious and scarpered out where they were caught by Lucy and Wendy and dragged to the side as they watched the scene begin to unfold. As Happy flew past Link he teasingly whispered "Careful, she's entered Titania mode." Making Link worry.

"What's going on Erza?" Link asked.

"Nothing important, why don't he go out on the deck." Erza suggested. Link smiled and nodded. The pair stepped out of the sliding door onto the deck that looked over an oriental garden that basked in the light of the moon.

"How's your day been?" Erza asked initiating conversation as Lucy had told her.

"It's been fun, I've never been to a spa before, I mean there were hot springs near Eldin volcano but you never got the rest of it."

"Mmm your right, there is nothing like a day at the spa after a long adventure."

"Yeh, shame we didn't have more time I really wanted to see what a massage felt like."

Immediately an idea formed in her head. Lucy's next step was to initiate physical contact and she had told her to take advantage of the fact that he was topless, this was just perfect. Link turned to Erza. "Um are you okay?" He said noticing an almost scary glint in her eyes,

"Of course, you know I can actually help you out there. I am in fact a master masseuse. If you need a massage I don't mind showing you." Link looked at her surprised, not wanting to seem rude he said. "Well there's no need if you don't want to I mean I'm pretty relaxed already."

"It's fine besides we're close friends, afterwards you can do me." Erza said putting down the wine and glasses. "Come inside and lie on one of the futons I'll make sure your properly loosened up."

Link nodded and hid a blush as he entered behind Erza. This was going to send him crazy, Erza, the woman he liked was freely offering a massage whilst she only wore a bath towel and what was scarier was that she wanted one back. He was seriously starting to wonder whether Erza was alright.

"Hey guy's I can't see." Natsu shouted as quietly as he could, the whole party had moved into a cupboard in the room for a better view unfortunately, it was more than cramped in the tiny space.

"Yes that's it Erza reel him." Lucy cheered quietly.

"I still don't understand what your trying to achieve here." Gray complained sitting curled up in the corner.

"Shhh they'll hear us." Wendy replied. At the bottom of the cupboard the two exceeds peeked out the tiny gap.

"Hey Carla I don't suppose you need a massage." Happy asked.

"Sorry tomcat but I've already had one." Carla replied striking the exceed where it hurt with her tsundere attitude.

"So long as Erza gives a good massage I'm sure sh…" Lucy was interrupted by a muffled scream of sheer pain. Realising it has come from Link she peeked out the gap to see why Erza was a master masseuse. She was holding Link's arm out behind him using her foot to pin him down and stretch his muscles. She quickly threw him into a new pose bending his back over her leg.

"Gosh Link your so tense, I thought you said you were relaxed." Erza said.

"I was!" Link cried.

Lucy bit her lip "geez that's brutal."

"Shouldn't we help him?" Wendy asked worried.

"Urm at this point I think it's too la.." Gray said before his mouth hung wide open as he saw Erza's towel fall off, revealing herself to the world. He quickly covered Wendy's eyes. Natsu peeked out the gap. "Oh wow, Erza's being pretty forward." He just finished his sentence before he was knocked clean out by Lucy.

"Stop looking idiot," she almost shouted, then in an inaudible tone while blushing madly she whispered "If you really want to see some that bad all you have to do is ask,"

"You really sure we can't do anything." Wendy asked as she watched her friend failing to escape from the clutches of queen of Fairy Tail through the gaps in Gray's fingers.

"Trust me, there's nothing we can do except pray he makes it out alive." Gray said.

"Hey Gray why aren't you looking surely this is any guys dream." Lucy asked.

"I just don't fancy it today," gray said blushing.

"It's because he liiikes Juvia." Happy taunted.

"What no I don't c'mere cat." Gray leapt for the blue exceed.

"Must you all be so immature." Carla complained.

Meanwhile Link was desperately trying to escape the grasp of a naked madwoman as she flung him around as if he was one of her weapons. Link once again swore to never make an enemy of this woman.

"Link, stop struggling and this process will be much easier." Erza said throwing him into a headlock with her knee piercing his spine causing it to click.

Without warning a loud slurp could be heard coming from the deck. Erza instantly stopped her massage to investigate. Sat with his back to the open sliding door was a young boy no older than twelve drinking their wine from the bottle. He was shirtless wearing an odd collar of multicoloured beads and shells that covered his neck and shoulders as well as a plain white sarong with golden beads hanging from the hem and bangles of numerous colours on both his wrists. He wore a head piece of similar style, the centre piece being a beaded triangle covering his forehead and two thinner ornate extensions that ran under eyes to hook round behind his head. If his costume didn't tell Link and Erza he was foreign then his tanned skin and sandy hair did.

"So this is the kind of thing young adults are into nowadays, I guess if it gets you in the mood I can't judge. Maybe I should tell Roran and Cryse, give them a nudge in the right direction." The boy turned to face Link and Erza who were still in their awkward position clueless as to what to do with the boy. What truly struck Link about the boy was his eyes, they were a piercing shade of blue that put his own eyes to shame. "That symbol on your hand." The boy said gesturing to the Fairy Tail symbol on Link's hand "That means your part of Fairy Tail right?"

Link nodded dumbly. "Well then, you're an enemy of Insignia," the boy stood up, his eyes had changed and were now filled with rage. Magic power began to flood the room, Erza was about to requip in defence, angry at the rude interruption but faltered when she looked at the boy. It wasn't simply his eyes that had lit up, every major blood vessel in his body began to glow under his skin. Red veins ran through his body centring at his hypnotically pulsating heart. Erza instantly felt weaker and suddenly fainted unable to comprehend why. Link caught her before she hit the floor but also fell under the spell joining her in a deep sleep unable to fight against the spell. Natsu burst from the cupboard awakened by the magic power he could feel. Seeing Erza and Link down he ran towards the boy fist aflame. The boy lifted his arm and froze Natsu mid-stride catching his body with an invisible force.

"My blood? What the hell are you doing?" Then Natsu collapsed. The rest of the team looked shocked as Natsu fell to the floor.

"Who are you?" Gray asked. Gray and the remaining members of team Natsu were instantly frozen by the boy was he gazed at them intensely. "Hero, of the Guild Insignia, by defeating you I am one step closer to being the greatest Hero ever. No evil can escape my bleeding nightmare," The boy blinked after the incantation and instantly Team Natsu was defeated as they all fell to the floor trapped in terrifying nightmares. "Evil has been conquered this day." The young boy said turning his back on the fallen members of Fairy Tail.

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**Next time: We find out what Link dreams about and the team continue on their mission to find and destroy the staff of insurrection.**

**please tell me what you thought of the chapter, i find fillers a lot harder to write than action scenes and i have no idea if they're funny enough so if you have some advice or constructive critisism or if you just simply liked the chapter please let me know. Every review is important to me so dont be afraid!**

**Side chapter: Cana and Link's mission (part one)**

**So for this weeks side chapter, I decided to try and write about Cana and Link's mission that occured before he left for the water temple and got the Master Sword, mentioned momentarily in the chapter above. As a character i absolutely love Cana she is a lot more complex than she makes out to be making her a really interesting character to write about. **

**As this is quite a long chapter and i don't want side chapters to be more dominant over the main chapter i have split this into two maybe three parts, so this is part one: set up. **

**Hope you enjoy it!**

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Link literally crawled into the guild that afternoon, after his recent training session with Erza he was completely out of it. Slowly he dragged himself to his regular spot on the bar and unclipped his shield and sword letting them drop to the floor. It was at times like this he really felt how heavy the shield was, not many in the guild could actually carry it effectively all complaining it weighed a tonne but Link never seemed to feel it except at moments like this.

Mira happily walked up to the worn out man, "Do you need a drink Link?" She asked sweetly,

Link nodded exhausted, "Whatever you have going please." He said as nicely as possible. Mira nodded and walked off to find a mug.

"Looks like Erza gave you a good thrashing." Cana laughed as she took the stool next to Link's.

"You could say that, her training regime is honestly totally brutal." Link sighed resting his head on the bar-top.

"Well she's not S-class for nothing." Cana said glumly, "I wish I had her energy."

"I'm not sure it's energy I'm fairly certain that woman is possessed." Link joked, Cana laughed.

"Don't let her hear you say that," Mira returned with Link's drink and a mug of ale for Cana.

"Well if you need a break, you could always come on a job with me." Cana offered happily.

Link thought about it for a second, maybe it would be fun, and he was running low on money recently. "Well I'd need to see if Erza was okay with it." He concluded

"Why it's not like she's your girlfriend," Cana teased smiling cheekily. Link blushed heavily.

"I don't know Cana."

"C'mon, you need a break look at you, besides we'll have fun just the two of us. We can plait your hair, tell each other secrets, take out a few monsters."

"Don't you think we're a bit old for a kids slumber party."

"Well if you think your old enough I can show you what happens at an adult slumber party." Cana teased seductively. Link fell off his chair causing Cana to laugh hysterically. "Jeez your more fun to tease than Gray, tell you what, what do you think of this job, it will only take a few days if we leave now we can be back by Wednesday." Cana said pulling a sheet of paper from her little bag.

Link looked down the sheet, it read, 'Mages Wanted, for my latest project I need a certain stone, problem is it can only be found in the tunnels of the dragon tail mountains it should be a simple retrieval job. Signed Dilbert Elsquire. Reward:200,000 J.'

"The guys a bit of cheapskate but he uses his inventions for good things I was planning on heading over alone but I would be glad of the company." Link pondered once again think about Erza's reaction he soon made his decision.

"Sounds fun when do we leave."

"Right now if your ready." Cana said before downing her drink.

"Urm, okay, Mira, me and Cana are taking this job, we will be back in a few days."

"Alright you two have fun." Mira said smiling before turning back to her sister who was talking together.

(Ten minutes later)

Cana and Link entered Magnolia train station running as fast as their legs could carry them. Link being more athletic had managed to run ahead hoping to hold the train but fell in despair as he spotted it shrinking away in the distance.

"Hmm, what do we do now? We'll have to return to the guild and get the early train tomorrow." Cana sighed. Link looked at her with a grin on his face. "What are you so happy about?" Cana asked.

"So Cana? Ever been flying?" Link smirked.

"What?" She asked confused before Link took her hand and pulled her outside, Cana brushed at the warmth his hand provided. Once the sun was hitting their faces Link let go and put his fingers to his mouth he whistled loudly and Cana figured it out.

"Oh nononono I am not getting on your bird I want to keep two feet firmly on the ground thank you." Link looked at her confused until the lightbulb switched on in his head.

"Your afraid of heights." He announced.

"No I'm not." Cana defended angrily.

"Well then you should have no problem with this then." With out any respect for Cana's personal space Link grabbed her in an embrace and used his clawshot to throw them up the side of the station, Cana yelled. Link pushed off the wall putting the clawshot away and moving Cana into a more comfortable position, he could feel the tightness of her grasp. With a caw Airya swooped down and caught Link and Cana as they safely landed on her back.

Cana was breathing heavily holding her heart, "Don't ever do that again!" She said. With an apologetic look Link put one hand on her shoulder and pointed to the side. Cana turned her head, all the fear left her heart as she saw Magnolia from the back of the crimson loftwing. She could see everything, from the guildhall, to the cathedral, fairy hills to her father's house. In that breathtaking moment she conquered her fear of the sky.

"Sometimes Cana, the best way to conquer fear is just to jump." Link said as he positioned himself into riding position of Airya's back. Cana grabbed on tight and watched as the world below sailed by.

(Back at the guild.)

Erza walked up to the bar a frown was on her face as she looked around the guild.

"Mira have you seen Link?" She asked. Mira's face looked puzzled. "Normally he's with you… Urm… Oh yes he want on a job with Cana."

"With Cana why?!" Erza said shocked. Mira just shrugged.

"Maybe for a change of pace?" Mira asked.

Erza looked incredibly worried thoughts raced through her mind, Erza was coming up with all the reasons Link would abandon her and go off with Cana until she figured it out. Cana is an attractive single female, recently she's been having a lot of trouble with men maybe? Cana's after my Link!

"Mira you have to tell me where they are going right away, it is of upmost importance to Link's safety!" Erza said panicked.

"Well, I think it was the job in the dragon-tail mountains something to do with retrieving a stone."

"I thought as much such a job is far to hard for two normal class mages as their superior it is my responsibility to make sure no harm comes to Link!" Erza said resolutely.

"What about Cana?" Lucy asked from the side.

"What about Cana?" Erza asked confused.

"Well you said it was your responsibility to take care of only Link." Lucy sweat dropped.

"I don't think you understand Lucy, in this mission Cana is the enemy." Erza nodded confidently and marched out the guildhall as Lucy sighed and returned to her favourite hobby, secretly admiring Natsu's muscles.

Erza left the guild and looked to the sky, sure enough she spotted the crimson loftwing flying north. "So the bird is in league with her is it, no matter no evil will stop me from saving Link."


	27. Giant's pass

**Chapter 27 - Giant's pass**

**Hello again guys, so last time we left Team Natsu all defeated by some crazy OP kid. As you can probably guess they have all now been thrust into nightmares all except one of our heroes. Link is having quite a different dream.**

**I hope you enjoy the chapter, fave, follow and review to tell me what you think And thanks to all of you who already have especially all the guest that i cant pm you guys are awesome!**

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Link, opened his eyes, he was stood under the mighty statue of the sky goddess, he stood in the centre of the landing circle holding the ceremonial sailcloth he had received from Zelda all that time ago. In realisation he spun around and sure enough the whole of skyloft lay behind him as if nothing had changed at all since that day. Somehow, he was home.

Link turned back to the statue to find a beautiful young woman less than a foot in front of him. Her bright blond hair shone in the sun and her azure eyes sparkled as she looked at Link.

"Zelda?" Link asked his long lost friend. "Is that you?" Link reached up to touch her cheek, his heart began to beat much faster.

"Of course it's me silly we were just talking before you jumped." She said recoiling away nervously from his touch, blushing.

"Link," a stern voice came from behind making Link jump as he pulled his hand away, he knew that voice. "Congratulations, on becoming a knight of skyloft, here is your new uniform," Gaepora, Zelda's father and the head of the knights academy had arrived holding a green tunic.

"I chose the colour, I thought green would suit you best." Zelda announced happily.

"Quite, wear it with pride boy… Oh I suppose I cant call you that anymore. Wear it with pride … Urm…"

"Link, will work fine sir," Link finished his sentence, he recalled this day perfectly, every moment of it including the event that shaped his destiny.

"Well then Link I look forward to seeing you in you classes at the earlier time of seven, I trust you'll be there on time." Gaepora eyed the young knight. Zelda giggled.

"Urm yes sir of course." Link said sheepishly.

"Good then I will see you soon." Gaepora said as he left to rejoin the festivities of the wing festival.

"Finally I thought he would never leave." Zelda sighed. "Link, you need to get changed I want to see how you look in your new get up."

"Right." Link said as he walked away from her to put on the new uniform.

"Oh and one more thing Link." Link turned back.

"If you wouldn't mind I would love to go for a fly with you… Just you." Zelda said.

Link's heart began to beat even faster, he knew what would happen next… But that meant …surely he could change it.

"Well actually instead why don't we head over to the waterfall the winds were a bit harsh today and I don't think it's a very good idea." Link suggested.

"Um, ok sure, but there is the chance that people would disturb us isn't there? surely flying is more… You know more private." Zelda frowned.

"Don't worry about that, anyway I have to go and put these on I'll see you at the festival." Link called as he ran off sealing the fact that she would not be flying today. Zelda waved back lightly as she watched the knight leave, she sighed nervous about what she was about to admit.

(Later that day)

Link arrived at the waterfall at around sunset, from a distance he could easily see the silhouette of Zelda as she sat on the grassy bank. He was glad she was safe. As he walked up behind her he could hear the sweet melody she was playing on the goddess' harp, of course at that point he would have had no idea the harp was so important. Zelda stopped when he heard Link's heavy feet stop behind her.

"You look really handsome in that armour you know." Zelda said, Link blushed and walked up to sit beside her. "You know from the quiet timid kid I used to be friends with, you really have grown,"

"What do you mean used to be friends with? Were still friends aren't we?" Link said confused.

" 'used to be' because your not the same boy anymore, your stronger and more mature, your brave and you are always willing to lend a hand. Your taller than me now which is really, really annoying. You've evolved from being the victim of evil in our games… you've become the hero." Zelda looked up straight into Link's eyes. "Your more than a friend to me now Link… I …I think i…"

Before she could finish Link closed his eyes, guilt began to shred his heart apart.

"I am so so sorry, please forgive me… I truly did love you too but I… too much has happened since… I just can't do it anymore, I'm just not good enough for you… You deserve so much better than some jerk who would just leave you behind. You just deserve so much better." Link confessed, releasing all his emotions all his thoughts in to a heartfelt apology. He opened his eyes to see her, she was crying lightly.

"I see… I knew it… We've grown too far apart. I know… I know I am no longer the one you love. So whatever you do… Don't let this one go whatever happens because… she must be spectacular. But please promise me one thing?" She said looking directly into his eyes.

"Anything." Link said taking her hand in his own.

"Don't forget about me,"

Link was shocked, he reached out and wiped the tears that traced down her cheek. "Zelda, I will never ever forget about you, the memories we share are the ones I will always treasure the most. You are my very best friend and you will always have a place in my heart. One day we will meet again and play just like we used to right here at this waterfall I promise. I promise that I will never forget what I hope we still have." Link's eyes watered as he said it and flooded when Zelda pulled him into the tightest hugs. Link had missed this, the smell of her hair, the smoothness of her skin, the feeling of being held by his best friend.

"Thank you." She finished the hug. "Go get her Link." She said, lightly pushing his hand away with something in it. Link opened his hand, inside was a silver ring with a ruby inset in it on a black leather cord, gildart's engagement ring. He smiled at Zelda as his surroundings faded from existence, he put the ring around his neck standing up with Zelda.

"I will see you again Zelda." Link promised.

"It's a date." she giggled. "Now get going before your trapped here… And tell her she'd better look after you properly or as your very best friend I will hunt her down personally."

Link smiled at his oldest friend happy they had found some kind of peace, even if this was a dream he could feel that somehow the real Zelda had got the message. Link turned and walked away from Zelda as the world dissolved around her. Tears fell off her cheeks as she said goodbye to the man of her dreams.

"May we meet again in another life."

(…)

Link opened his eyes and looked up peacefully at the ceiling. He felt incredible, like a huge weight had been lifted off his chest but at the same time he felt an awful sadness. He breathed out a long breath, If he closed his eyes now he could have fallen right back to sleep again but he was unfortunately denied the opportunity as Natsu cried.

"Hey guys he woke up!"

"Seriously he made it." It was Lucy's voice Link could hear. Link sat up holding his bed-head in one hand whilst resting on the other.

"What's going on guys?"

"You, your what's going on… Do you know how worried I was?" Erza ran down to Link's side and punched him lightly on the shoulder with her gauntlet clad fist.

"What do you mean what happened?"

"You, you've been asleep for hours man, we couldn't wake you up and after what that kid did we were seriously worried." Gray explained, Link had a flashback to how he was knocked out.

"Seriously still don't know what happened." Link said bemused.

"It would seem the child lay a hypnotic curse on all of us trapping us all in nightmares." Carla began to explain.

"The nightmares were very specific they all supposedly happened in alternate versions of our pasts with the people we were closest too. Me natsu Gray and Happy all shared a dream and managed to escape easily as we could all break out together and I'm more immune to this kind of magic thanks to my artificial eye." Erza continued

"Me and Carla were also in the same dream and managed to escape our nightmare too, but it was really scary I didn't know if we were going to make it."

"What about you Lucy what happened?"

"I was with Aquarius she managed to kick some sense into me and helped me escape but I never want to relive that again."

A glowing orb appeared from the master sword, that was propped against the wall, quickly materialising into Fi. "Master I do have data on many kinds of magic produced throughout the ages and have sufficient data on the spell the boy used on you. The magic you fell to was blood magic, a magic forbidden by the early magic council due to it's potency and capacity to be used for evil deeds. The boy, Hero, can use it at will and to an incredible level, The spell cast was incredibly high level, accurately named Bleeding Nightmare, a hypnotic spell in which if you do not escape the nightmare upon you on time, you will suffer haemorrhages in all major arteries leading to death by rapid internal blood loss, there is less than a 5% chance of escaping the nightmare on time. It is most fortunate you all got out alive." Fi explained.

"Wow, that's some crazy magic let's not bump into that kid again." Gray said.

"I'm afraid we may have too, he's part of Insignia which means he is after the staff of insurrection as well." Lucy explained.

"Well that's good because I want payback from the little brat." Natsu said.

"I would deem that unwise master Natsu, from the data I have collected, I have calculated that there is a 70% chance of him being able to overpower you." Fi calculated.

"Pish we've dealt with worse odds haven't we Happy." Natsu finished

"Aye sir!"

"What did you dream about Link?" Wendy asked. All of a sudden the rest of the team turned towards him. Link felt slightly worried, he had not had a nightmare at all, it was quite the opposite. But Link was also quite surprised by the fact that everyone had shared dreams which meant that he may have truly spoken to Zelda in that dream. Link didn't want to reveal what had happened so he lied.

"I don't know I just fought a few old enemies and escaped." He looked at Fi who could tell he was lying but she remained silent for some reason.

"You took longer than all of us though." Happy pondered, Link shrugged and the subject was bypassed.

"Anyway back on task, we've lost precious time so I want to be through Giant's Pass by nightfall which means you need to get your things together and move out you've got five minutes. Fi if you don't mind mentally surveying the area ahead that would be useful." Erza suggested.

"If that is what Master Link requires than I can easily perform such a function."

"Thank you." Link said to Fi as she returned to the sword to begin her task

Everyone began scrambling for their stuff. Just as Erza was about to leave Link called to her.

"Urm, Erz are yo…"

"Not now Link hurry up and get ready." She commanded harshly, Link was slightly bemused by this and frowned as she left.

"What's the matter with Erza?" Link asked.

"Dunno, girl stuff?" Gray suggested receiving a smack on the head, courtesy of Lucy.

"She's just not happy with her performance last night." Lucy said as she left the room.

"What on earth does she mean by that?" Link asked the rest of the boys only to receive confused shrugs.

"Girls are weird." Happy concluded to which he received nods of agreement from everyone except Link.

(…)

The Giant's Pass was incredibly daunting, after a 4 mile uphill hike from the town the team finally arrived at the entrance. The pass itself was an enormous fissure in the middle of two mountain ranges. From what Fi had told them the pass was once a single mountain range and had split from some mysterious causes. She had also suggested great caution when travelling the pass due to the eroding rock faces, unpredictable weather and possibly unfriendly inhabitants that dwelled in the pass. Even armed with this information Team Natsu still fell foul to the natural elements.

"Why is it always you who manages to do this you pink haired oaf." Gray called over to Natsu.

"Oh this was my fault was it? you're the one who threw icicles at it's face."

"And who was it who set it's arse on fire in the first place."

"Would you guys quit it! We are trying to run from a monster here!" Lucy yelled.

All of Team Natsu ran through the canyon, any loose rocks bounced up and down off the ground thanks to the tremor inducing footsteps of their pursuer.

"Right, that's it," Link yelled, halting in his tracks.

"What on earth are you doing boy, that thing is huge you can't beat it with that toothpick." Carla yelled.

"I'll have you know that this toothpick has dealt with much much bigger," Link said drawing the master sword, He then began to run back towards the source of the tremors. In an instant a huge great beast of rock barrelled through the canyon. It took the form of an enormous spiked rhino at least the size of a house if not bigger. The rhino charged at the lone man and roared in sheer rage, it's body spikes cutting through the cliff faces. What surprised the great beast was the yell that came from Link, easily matching the huge beast's causing it to falter in his steps. Link stopped and stood his ground, Erza cursed there was not enough time to help him out now, she would have to trust him. The rhino ran right up to Link stopping an inch in front of the warriors face. The rhino breathed heavily in the face of Link who simply stood fast not backing down to the enormous creature. The rest of the team's hearts skipped a beat as the rhino bellowed in Link's face. Link still didn't react standing his ground. With a snort the rhino called it quits, turned and left for its home. Before Team Natsu could cheer Link stopped them. Waiting for the rhino to get safely away. When it had left he sheathed his sword and relaxed. He turned towards the obviously impressed Team Natsu and headed towards them.

"That was awesome Link!" Natsu yelled.

"Good job!" Gray cheered.

"Rule one of expeditions, Do Not Piss of the local wildlife." Erza sternly told the pair off for their misbehaviour whilst pinching their ears.

"And don't forget not every fight has to be won by crossing swords." Link shouted as he walked over to join them.

Before he could get close there was another louder rumble. With a mighty crash the cliff side had collapsed and was tumbling down into the canyon, the rockslide missed Link barely thanks to his warrior's instincts throwing him out of the way. It took almost two minutes for the rockfall to settle by which point the whole canyon was totally blocked off. Leaving Link separated from the rest of the team.

"Oy, Link you ok!" He heard a shout from the other side, only Natsu could shout that loud.

"Aye, I'm fine, you all alright?" Link yelled back.

"Yup we're all fine, Erza's pretty worried about you though. YOW!" Natsu yelled, Link assumed Erza had hit him for some reason.

"What should we do, I don't want to climb this it doesn't look stable and trying to break through is an even worse idea, I could probably find a way around though." Link called.

It took a little time but eventually Natsu yelled. "Erza said that's fine, we'll meet you at the end of the pass 'kay?"

"Right see you soon!" Link finished. He looked up at the rockfall, it could have just been from the rhino but something seemed off, he looked to the top of the cliff but nothing was there he shrugged and set off to find an alternative route calling on Fi to help. She seemed happier that he was alone again and if he was honest it felt quite nostalgic, although, he had never traversed a mountain pass like this in Hyrule. Link felt pretty happy, not having Natsu, Lucy and Gray arguing in his ears was a welcome break. With a sigh he began to navigate the mountain pass.

The afternoon ticked by as Link walked through the pass, it was nearing evening so Link decided to choose a decent place to rest for dinner. He was sure the rest of the team would wait for him at the end of the gorge so he had time. He sat down on a flat rock with his back against the cliff face and brought some soup out of his adventure pouch. Now it really felt like old times. He realised how stiff his body was, he thought back to the previous night, reminiscing the 'interesting' massage that Erza gave him, he was pretty sure she had ended up doing that naked. He chuckled and rubbed his stiff muscles, for some reason he hadn't felt right all day, it might have been to do with his disturbed sleep or travelling all day but Link didn't really doubt that it was anything except Erza's massage. Sighing link realised that giving her the necklace meant he could have all the back breaking massages he wanted. As he took the first swig of his soup he heard a crunch of an apple from the other side of the gorge. Quickly Link stood up putting down his meal, right across the gorge stood a hooded stranger who had also stood up in the presence of Link, also putting down his meal.

"No one else should be in this gorge." The stranger said.

"And why's that?" Link asked suspiciously his finger twitching ready to pull out his sword.

"None of your business." The stranger defended. "You must have been the guy from earlier! Which means your after the staff."

"You've been following us!" Link knew it that rockfall must have been caused by this guy. "And your after the staff too. Well then it's my job to get rid of you before you can get any closer!" Link said drawing his sword.

"Likewise." The man said. The stranger threw off his hooded cloak revealing impossibly blue hair and a red tattoo around his eyes. The stranger got into combat position placing his hands in some kind of seal. A magic circle formed in front of him. Link held up the Hylian shield preparing for combat.

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**Woo, more cliff hangers. As you can probably guess next time is Link vs. Jellal. :P**

**S****ide chapter: Erza, Natsu, Happy and Gray's dream.**

**For this weeks side chapter i decided to write about one of the other dreams that occured, of course i am awful at writing horror so this turned out to be more light hearted then a nightmare but for all those who loved the ocarina of time bosses, you may like this one, hint, hint. Please review or pm me if you have any ideas for future side chapters. Anything will do and i'm totally open to suggestions.**

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Erza's head ached, she opened her eyes having very little idea where she was. The sky above her was dark and overcast the smell of an oncoming storm was in the air. Erza tried to sit up suddenly feeling incredibly odd, as if she wasn't as big as usual. She blinked and looked down. With a scream she realised what was going on, somehow she had been placed inside her body from when she was a child. She quickly stood up stumbling from the odd transformation, she quickly admired herself, she was wearing a plain chest-plate and a beige skirt, an old sword rested at her hip.

"What in Earthland?" Erza said out loud, she remembered the boy from earlier with the blazing blue eyes and the veins that lit on fire. "This must be blood magic," she said as she moved her fingers to check they were real. It was only now she looked around her, she was sitting by the canal in Magnolia, a grassy bank was behind her. She knew exactly where she was. Quickly she got up knowing she had to do something, she was obviously trapped in some kind of illusionary world. No, illusions didn't work on her thanks to her artificial eye, this was something different, a dream perhaps or a completely parallel world. She doubted the last option who ever that boy was she knew he wouldn't have the power to manipulate dimensions.

She decided the best option would be to leave for the guildhall, hopefully there would be a clue there. She pulled herself up and crawled up the hill. Despite the fact she was still getting used to her smaller stature, it did feel oddly familiar to her. Quickly she ran through the streets of Magnolia towards the guildhall. The area was quiet, too quiet, there were no people in the streets, shops were vacant, stalls were empty and there were no birds in the trees. Erza grimaced, something was definitely wrong.

Erza soon reached the old guildhall she had no time to feel nostalgic about the building she grew up in as she threw the doors open to find the place totally deserted. Erza slowly walked into the room. The whole place was dark and empty, it was horribly eerie as she could have sworn she could hear the echoes of laughter and brawling that should have been filling the guild. Silently she walked up to the bar and felt it's smooth surface with a frown, there was no one here and she didn't have much of an idea as to what to do. An idea formed in her head. Standing up she faced the centre of the guild and shouted.

"Requip Heaven's Wheel Armour." Her body flooded with magic surrounding her with an intense golden glow. She smiled, this is a good clue. She thought before feeling her magic fade. When the spell had finished she didn't feel like normal, she didn't feel like she was wearing armour, in fact she just felt… Naked. Erza looked down at herself the spell had not worked she was standing in the middle of the guildhall naked.

"Okay, I guess this is a dream then… This kind of thing only happens in dreams right?" She said calmly. At least there's no one here to see. She thought.

As if the world had read her mind she suddenly heard two loud boisterous voices approaching the guild.

"What the hell you overgrown popsicle."

"You started it pinky."

"Woah you did not just make fun of my hair you stripper!" Natsu said, even from where she was Erza knew Natsu's hand was no on fire. At this point Erza had no choice she stood menacingly at the door to the guildhall and looked down on the two mages.

"What have I told you two about fighting!" She shouted.

Gray and Natsu instantly hugged each other in fear,

"what the hell is she doing here?" Happy said as he panicked and hid behind the two mages Who were quaking with fear. The young Erza then jumped down the length of the steps leading up to the guild and savagely kicked Natsu in the face sending him flying into a pile of barrels, she then spun and punched Gray in the stomach sending him flying on top of Natsu. Happy had managed to avoid the attack and made sure to fly out of Erza's reach. Erza stood admiring her handiwork. She was just about to finish telling the pair off and help them up when she heard Natsu yell.

"Fire Dragon's Roar!" Immediately Gray flew off Natsu and was projected towards the guild hall with his butt on fire. That was when Erza clicked. With lightning reflexes she caught Gray in mid-air then went on to savagely beat up Natsu using Gray as her weapon.

"Do you two ever learn!" She yelled in between strikes.

"What is with you and beating people up while your naked today Erza!" Gray shouted as he was chucked around like a rag doll.

Erza immediately stopped, dropping Gray on top of Natsu. "What did you just say?" She commanded.

Gray shivered in fear almost attempting to hide behind Natsu who rejected him. "No…nothing."

Erza then released the greatest weapon in her arsenal. Her death stare, in a much more serious tone she said, "What did you just say?"

Gray shivered now to afraid not to answer, "I said your beating a lot of people whilst your naked today,"

"Who else have I beaten up naked." She sternly said.

"Well… Link." He quickly said flinching as he prepared for another hit.

"Wait you know Link? But at your age you shouldn't have met him yet?"

"Sure we know Link, pointy ears, pointy hat, pointy sword, obsession with green clothing," Natsu said.

"Yeh and we know about you beating up Link because it happened like half an hour ago then that kid showed up and turned us into kids and now we're here."

"I was not beating up Link I was giving him a massage, he was simply too tense." Erza defended.

"Sure, if that's what you want to call it, besides I doubt he enjoyed it." Gray said. Without meaning too, Gray's words pierced Erza's heart like a knife... Did Link not like it? Was I too rough? What if he hates me now? How am I going to face him now? She thought, she could have burst into tears at that moment but realised she shouldn't. Shaking her head she spoke again.

"Anyway, we have not been reverted into kids, what you have told me had convinced me of that, I believe we have been trapped in a joint dream world."

"Really, that's Awesome!" Natsu yelled.

"How can you tell?" Gray asked.

"Numerous reasons but the main one is that." She pointed up at the sky. Natsu and Gray looked up their mouths fell open in shock, the sky was spiralling into a centre above Magnolia in the centre was a huge black hole that seemed to be sucking up all of the clouds and anything else around it.

"Yup, this has got to be a dream." Natsu said.

"Or a nightmare," Gray said pinching himself.

"That things scary." Happy cried.

"Gray, you know that won't work, I've already hit you a few times if that didn't wake you up not much will, I believe the only way to get out of here would be too complete the dream." Erza said. Suddenly she felt an odd sensation on her left hand. She looked down at it and noticed the triforce was beginning to glow.

"Wait, Erza you have one of those as well?" Natsu gasped.

"Urm, yes did we not tell you?" She asked.

"No!" The boys said together.

"Well either way it's a clue." she pointed her hand towards the guildhall and it began to glow more vividly. "Let's go!" She announced. "And gray put some clothes on."

"Says you!" he yelled back before seeing his shirt lying a couple of feet away. Erza realised she was still stark naked and quickly requipped into one of her old armours, one she had known she had back when she was a child, fortunately it worked.

(…)

The triforce lead the trio to a hidden door in the guild archives, Erza was leading the way and broke the door down.

"A secret passage?" Gray questioned,

"Cool!" Natsu shouted.

Erza frowned and was the first to walk in. Natsu lit the way with his fire. The tunnels were dark and damp, rats covered the floor but this place was definitely part of the guild hall. Erza frowned as she realised this place may still be below the guildhall today.

"Hey, Natsu look!" They heard Happy yell. The three turned around to see Happy wearing a skull on his head. Dancing around in a creepy fashion.

"Oh my gosh Happy that's hilarious!" Natsu said as he burst out laughing before picking up another skull and using it as a puppet. "Hey happy guess who! Ah, I'm such a stupid talking staff, I hate the Natsu, I hate that Fairy tail, Me and Zero will see them all destroyed one day yahahaha… Yahahaha." Natsu laughed at his own impression of the skull staff they had fought back in the oracion seis days.

Natsu turned to look at the three other mages realising they weren't laughing with him, he was surprised when he saw they all looked incredibly freaked out. "What's wrong guys it wasn't that scary was it?" Erza simply pointed behind Natsu. Natsu stopped his antics and turned around. He was met by a disgusting undead face with an enormous underbite and a mangled bloodstained body. In sheer and utter terror Natsu yelped and punched the monster in the face and ran back to hide behind Erza. Natsu's punch made the monster even more terrifying as it's now dented face was missing most of it's teeth.

"I'll take care of this." Erza announced drawing her old rapier. "Delta strike!" With three slashes the monster was cut into three separate chunks of flesh quickly destroying whatever the undead creature was.

"Jeez, that thing was creepy," Gray announced, "where the hell are we this can't really be under the guild can it."

Erza frowned, "we should continue."

Fifteen minutes later all four of them were shivering in fright, since the first monster they had seen two more of them as well as some enormous spiders with skulls on their backs which Natsu destroyed and some terrifying disembodied hands that chased them all the way around the labyrinth. The triforce eventually guided the four of them until they reached a large cavern by this point even Erza was shivering, it wasn't the icy cold of the place and the monsters she could deal with, it was more the atmosphere down here, the place had begun to stink of rotting flesh the darkness was unpleasant and every now and then they would all hear and eerie thump as if something were banging on an enormous drum. The whole place sent shivers down their spines.

At the top of the cavern they had entered was a large golden crystal that was irradiating a large amount of light which filled the cavern, a walkway was above them leading to the crystal.

"What do you suppose that is?" Gray asked.

"It's so shiny," Happy said floating up towards it until Erza grabbed his tail.

"We don't know what it could be let's stay focused. The moment they walked into the cavern erza's triforce began to grow even more vigorously and the ground began to shake.

"Now what's going on?" Natsu yelled.

The ground collapsed underneath them and they began to fall. Happy flew down with them in panic he managed to catch Natsu but quickly realised that he wasn't strong enough to carry the young dragon slayer as he slipped from his grip. The trio landed on a strangely flat surface with a boom. The sound resonated through what sounded like an even larger cavern. There was again very minimal light down in these depths. Erza looked up, she could no longer see the golden crystal. Still they couldn't have fallen that far, she should still be able to see it. That's when she felt it, a terrifying presence filled the room, Erza looked up again and was horrified by what she saw. A giant red orb appeared, it looked horribly like an eye. Natsu lit up his hand to reveal the rest of the monster, it was a floating body with a single thick stalk for a head, a red eye capped the stalk looking down angrily at the three mages and the terrified exceed. It's arms lengthened into stumps and just in front of the said stumps were a pair a pair of enormous disembodied hands.

"What the hell is this thing?" Gray yelled.

"I've seen some creepy shit in my time but this takes the biscuit!" Natsu said staring up at the monster.

The monster raised its hand and slammed it on the ground, it made an interesting thump and Erza realised it was a real drum they were standing on. She looked around realising the drum was the only platform they had, outside of it was empty space that could be miles deep. The vibrations from the drum knocked the three children off their feet as the monster began to drum a dreaded beat. The three fairy tail mages soon got annoyed with the tremors and decided to take action, Gray was the first to react "Ice make spike!" Quickly he cast his magic leaving an icy trail across the floor that ended with a large spike positioned under the monsters hand. The hand slammed down on the spike and the monster wailed in pain. Gray could feel the fact that he couldn't use his more advanced magic, somehow in this dream he could only use magic he had learned so far. Despite this Gray yelled

"Now's our chance! ice make lance."

Natsu and Erza followed his lead yelling "Fire Dragon's Roar!"

"Scarlet Strike!"

The three young mages threw their attacks at the monster, Erza's sword glowed blood red and sliced through the other hand, natsu's roar and Gray's lances headed straight for the red eye in a combination that surprisingly worked well. The beast roared and pulled his hand off the spikes before turning invisible to the trio and Happy.

"He's gone!" Happy yelled in delight.

"No! Keep your guard up he could be anywhere!" Erza warned, she scanned the darkness for any sign before glimpsing a ghostly hand approach Natsu. "Natsu behind you!"

"What!" Natsu said turning around. "There's nothin… Woah." Erza saw Natsu being picked up and crushed by the giant hand. Erza realised she was able to see the monster when it went invisible thanks to her artificial eye. That meant only she could tell where it was. She cursed the fact that she couldn't summon her normal armours that would make this far easier. She ran up brandishing her rapier and tore through the hand with a collection of well calculated slashes that tore through the hands tendons forcing it to drop Natsu.

"Gray shoot up now!"

"Right Ice make Cannon!" Gray summoned a smaller cannon than normal and fired an ice blast directly up. With a roar the Monster came back into view.

"Quickly before he recuperates everyone attack." Erza ordered.

"Ice make sword!"

"Fire Dragon Iron Fist!

"Pentagram strike."

The three children ran towards the monster totally fearless, the triforce on Erza hand glowed as each of their attacks made contact with the monsters eye. With a bellow the monster writhed in pain it's eye suddenly burst and the monster fell limp on the drum with a final thump.

"We did it!" Natsu yelled.

"That was so scary!" Happy shuddered.

"Wait? Erza whats up with your hand?" Gray said.

Erza looked down at her hand noticing it was glowing vigorously. "I think it's trying to tell us it's time to go home." She announced. Just as she said this the four members of Fairy Tail were overcome by a blinding light and thrown back to the world they had come from.


	28. Link vs Jellal

**Chapter 28 - Link vs Jellal**

**Hey guys so here is a fight i was really excited to write and i'm sure you all know it's coming Link vs Jellal. Very near the beginning of the story i decided if This was goi to be a linkxerza story then Jellal would have to be sorted out somehow and that is going to be one of the subplots of this entire arc. **

**I hope you guys enjoy it and i hope i did Jellal justice in this fight, any suggested improvements would really prove useful so review or pm me if you have any ideas. **

**Dont forget to fave and follow if you enjoy it and review if you have something to say And finally ****Thank you all for reading!**

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The auras emitted from the two mages reached a climax shattering the ground surrounding them in a wave of energy. Both men looked at each other with unwavering stares as magic power flooded within them. In an explosion of power, the men charged towards each other with lightning speed. Jellal's hands were cloaked in light, leaving a trail as his fist sped towards Link. Link decided to keep various tricks of his hidden and dodged the punch instead of blocking the magic with his shield. He spun round and went in for an uppercut with the master sword. The blade did not meet him and Link realised too late where Jellal was. Jellal had used his heavenly body magic to propel himself into the air allowing him to dodge Link's attack and attack Link's weak spot.

Jellal summoned light around his hands then let loose a shot of pure light. Link could feel the intensity of the projectile and swiped at it over his head. The blade caught the light mid swing and Link used his momentum to dispel the magic releasing the energy in an accurate swing before it could hit him.

Jellal landed on one end of the gorge. "Sword magic huh? You don't see that very often anymore."

"I could say the same for your magic, I've never seen anything like it."

There was a short pause as the pair caught their breaths. Link cursed, he didn't feel as loose as normal his body was tight like a spring but he couldn't release the energy. He had felt like this for most of the day and it was only now he realised that it was having an effect on his combat skills. Internally Link cursed Erza's massage but upon thinking about her couldn't help but forgive the woman. Besides even with a handicap he was still going to win this.

"Enough with the pleasantries I need to finish you off quickly." Jellal yelled.

"Not likely." Link said planning out his next move.

Jellal raised his hand and summoned a wall of seven golden magic circles, each with a five pointed star in the centre. Jellal called, "Cosmic blast!" And each circle shot out a beam of pure starlight. Link summoned a fair amount of magic power and yelled "Farore's wind." Immediately wind cloaked Link lifting him from the ground and teleporting him to safety. The beams passed harmlessly underneath Link and struck the canyon wall behind him.

Link grinned as he noticed Jellal had no idea he was still around assuming he had been defeated. Link silently sailed over the canyon using his sailcloth in order to get in a better position, when ready link dropped the parachute and descended on the unsuspecting mage. Landing right behind him Link pulled of three direct strikes on Jellal's chest. Jellal quivered and faded. Link cursed, it was an illusion. Again Jellal came at Link with his glowing fists but Link could feel his presence and blocked the fist with his shield causing a mighty explosion of light. Throwing the two mages away from each other.

"Your pretty resourceful how many other tricks do you have up your sleeve." Jellal complimented.

"As many as it takes to defeat you." Link replied as he charged.

(…)

Together at the other end of the pass, the rest of Team Natsu were congregating around a small campfire fire, courtesy of Natsu, waiting for Link to arrive. They had decided on waiting for the warrior over getting to the staff faster as Link was one of the stronger members of the group and if they were going against a whole guild they would need him. Erza more than anyone else seemed the most anxious and was silently watching out for the green warrior.

"Erza come and get some food you'll need the energy if we're going to beat these criminals." Carla offered.

Erza stayed silent, her ears listening for any sign of Link.

"Yeh, Erza come get some grub, you don't need to worry about Link, if he can tame a giant rocky rhino I'm sure he'll have no trouble getting through the pass." Natsu comforted.

"Besides our route was the most direct one so we were bound to get here first, and he has Fi to help him." Lucy suggested. Erza still stayed silent.

"Hey, you sure she's okay?" Gray whispered to Lucy.

"Yeh she's seemed a bit odd since we left Hosenka." Natsu continued.

"I can hear you, you know and I can promise you I'm fine I'm just… I'm fine." Erza said sternly stopping the conversation. After a moments silence there was an explosion in the pass, every head turned towards the thunderous sound.

"You think that's?" Wendy asked.

"Definitely, Link's in trouble." Erza announced then immediately launched herself towards the pass faster than most could follow, when suddenly a pink haired individual landed lightly at the head of the gorge.

"Meredy!?" Erza said recognising the young woman. Meredy turned around.

"Erza, Natsu, Wendy what are you all doing here?"

"We're on an S-class for the guild," Wendy stated.

"Do you know what that was?" Erza quickly said changing the subject and pointing towards the gorge.

"I don't know but Jellal is in the canyon right now looking for members of the dark guild insignia."

"But Link's in there too." Wendy stated.

"One of yours?" Meredy asked before receiving a quick nod.

"Wait, you don't think?" Lucy questioned.

"Aye, this isn't good we've got to split them up fast!" Erza commanded requiping into her flight armour.

"This is awesome, Link vs Jellal, Gray we have got to see this." Natsu yelled.

"Shut up, you hot headed freak and let's go before Erza ruins it."

(…)

Link was immediately upon Jellal who managed to dodge his first strike and began to stumble. Link took his advantage and attacked again, with a clang his blade met metal.

"Holy blade." Jellal said after the block, he was now holding a shining blade. Link ran the master sword up the length of Jellal's blade of light then deftly spun round to attack again Jellal again managed to block. The pair shared a flurry of attacks until Link had to perform an unorthodox manoeuvre in order to defend against a low swing, it was then when Link's stiffness took effect. His sword halted mid swing and Link found he could not move his sword arm. In panic Link threw his other arm in the way deflecting the blow with his shield so that it only made a minor cut on his forearm. Link cursed and pushed away bringing them out of close combat. Link managed to release his frozen arm arm and pointed it at Jellal, link now got annoyed, although Jellal's swordsmanship was good, it was not equal in any way to Link's. Link ran in for a new attack and broke Jellal's defence quickly and empowered the master sword with energy ready to hit the mage but Jellal had other ideas.

Through accidental telepathy Jellal projected his thoughts into Link's mind giving Link a slight warning as to what was coming. Enough messing around. Link heard and suddenly he felt a tremendous amount of magic energy from Jellal. The instant the Master Sword was going to meet Jellal, Link felt a single palm on his chest and in less than a second later Link had been catapulted into the canyon wall with enough speed to give an normal person whiplash. Realising what had happened Link, ignoring the pain, pulled himself up and took up a defensive stance. As he stood his eyes caught a flash of light whizz past him. Link turned to follow the light, barely managing too as it sped up the walls around Link, unpredictably changing directions. Link just managed to glimpse the blue haired mage inside the light and was shocked at the sheer speed of the man. Before Link could react Jellal sped towards him and struck him with lightning fast attacks from as many directions as he could manage. Link was being pummelled by the impossibly fast mage. Suddenly Jellal struck him in the back of the spine and it clicked.

In an instant Link's body fell into an incredible state of freedom. His mind became as clear as glass and Link figured out what he could do. The triforce on the back of his hand began to glow brightly and wind began to whistle through the valley. Jellal's next hit totally missed its target as Link dodged the impossibly fast attack. Jellal rebounded of the cliff face and attempted a low sweep. Somehow keeping up with him Link simply stepped out of his way this cycle continued as the wind howled through the pass. Then Jellal realised what Link was doing, somehow link was manipulating the air around him to give him incredible speed, a far more controlled version of the spell he was using earlier which simply teleported him, even more incredible was the fact that Link didn't even use an incantation for the spell, it was as if he was evolving throughout the fight. Jellal faltered at this realisation almost costing him the entire fight. Link immediately burst from where he was standing and sped towards Jellal with a quick swipe of Link's sword, Jellal was thrown to the ground. Link finished the move by shouting "Din's Flame," casting a fireball out of the tip of the master sword which made contact with Jellal and exploded. Jellal was thrown back to one end of the valley, Link landed at the other. Both held intense grimaces recognising the strength of the other. Link was smiling in his head, he felt better than he'd had in days, somehow his body was functioning perfectly, completely in contrast with his earlier stiffness. Link smiled this guy was stronger than anything he'd faced no doubt equal if not better than Erza but with confidence he told himself he could win this.

The sun sank into the ground behind him, as Jellal crossed his hands above his head. The shadows suddenly changed, turning towards Jellal and the sun that was behind him, Link was shocked and chose to prepare for the worst. A small orb of darkness formed in front of Jellal, as it grew bigger Link could make out twinkling lights inside it. It was reminiscent of the night's sky. Link held up his shield once again, charging magic power towards the triforce.

Jellal finished his spell and called out, "Altaris." And the orb of darkness flew towards Link pulling small rocks and pebbles towards it's empty core.

In response Link bellowed, "Naryu's Love," and crystal began to form around Link. As the Altaris blast approached Link the shield was formed, Jellal's attack met Link's defence and to Jellal's surprise the spell sailed harmlessly past the warrior.

Jellal closed his eyes "I find it hard to believe a simple dark mage like yourself has forced me into this corner but I guess I have no choice."

"Well then hit me with your best shot." Link called.

Jellal crouched and placed one wrist over the other. His hands were closed into fists other than his index and middle fingers which were pointing to the floor. As he raised his arms the sky began to darken and clouds began to gather in some kind of cyclone. Jellal was preparing his trump card 'Sema'. Link prepared himself filling himself with courage in the presence of such a Spell. For the first lime since receiving the Master Sword he raised it to the heaven's. Link relished the familiar feeling as light ran up his blade with a metallic ring.

Before the two mages unleashed their trump cards they caught one another's eyes. Both men opened their mouth ready to speak their incantations until.

"Stop you bloody fools!" Erza cried from the top of a rock, she jumped down and stood between the two mages who were in mid-cast dressed in her flight armour. The two mages turned towards the requipping mage and grinned.

Simultaneously they said. "Erza, you're here! This guy's insignia help me take him out." Suddenly all three mages seemed confused. The spells collapsed disintegrating into the air as the three mages looked at each other.

"Oh gosh this is going to take some explaining." Erza sighed.

Meredy arrived and put her hand on Jellal's shoulder. "Jellal this man is a member of Fairy Tail."

"What what? Where the hell is his guild mark then?" Jellal asked.

Link removed his gauntlet to reveal the Fairy Tail mark in red on the back of his hand.

"And Link, this is Jellal we've told you about him before." Erza explained to Link.

"What? That's Jellal you know the evil one who tried to kill you?" Link said pointing at the blue haired mage.

"Ugh, why am I the only one who can look past that. Me and jellal sorted that seven years ago let it go already."

Link sheathed his sword and sat on the ground half from exhaustion and the rest in surprise. Jellal walked up to Link and held out a hand. "Sorry for mistaking you for an enemy if I had known things would have been quite different." Jellal apologised.

"Yeh, I think so." Link grimaced as he took Jellal's hand and was pulled up. "I guess it's good to meet you Jellal." He said reluctantly "I'm Link, I only joined Fairy Tail last autumn so we haven't met."

Natsu and the rest of the team soon ran in.

"Naw it's over already?" Natsu groaned. Link and Jellal both laughed at the pink haired mage.

"Hey Jellal you mentioned the staff right?" Link inquired.

"Yes, and so did you." Jellal answered.

Erza quickly figured it out and said. "It seems were both after the staff of insurrection and are trying to get there before Insignia, why don't we work together?"

"It would be an honour to work with you again Erza." Jellal said politely.

"That's all well and good but we've still lost a lot of time after all that's happened we are going to struggle to get to the staff before Insignia." Gray said.

"Actually, we do have time." Meredy countered. "The staff of insurrection can only be accessed in the day and I know the guild hasn't left the next town yet."

"In that case we have time to gain the lead." Lucy said happily.

"Aye!" Happy shouted.

"I'm afraid not Lucy, the woods ahead of us are impossible to cross at night and I am exhausted from that fight, I think it's best we rest and head of first thing tomorrow morning." Jellal said.

"I agree I had no intention of us continuing after we found Link we should head back to camp." Erza suggested. Everyone agreed as they were all tired of traversing the pass and all headed back to the camp.

(…)

Immediately on return everyone fell straight to sleep. Natsu lay slumped against a tree with Lucy sleeping on his shoulder and Happy lying in the branches above. Wendy and Carla had curled up in their sleeping bags and Gray simply lay topless on the floor. The six of them looked like children as they readily fell asleep. Erza had offered to take the first watch and despite Meredy's protests Jellal chose to accompany her. Link stayed reasonably silent in the ordeal and laid himself down away from the others propping his sword and shield up against a tree and resting on his folded hat. Link's body felt incredibly relaxed despite just being in a rather intense fight. He was surprised at just how loose his body was of it hadn't been for this sensation Link would have struggled to beat Jellal. His mind began coming up with reasons for why this had occurred and quickly settled on one cause. He was surprised he was admitting this but it turned out last night's horrifying massage had done wonders for him. There was no doubt Erza was a master masseuse. Sleep was about to overcome him before he heard a familiar voice.

"Well looks like they're all asleep." Erza stated.

"Aye, they all look so normal like that, you would never guess any of them had the power to level a town." Jellal said. Erza chuckled at his backhanded compliment. "It may sound weird but you really do seem like a mother to them."

"Nah, I like to see myself as an older sister."

"I guess, even so you are the closest thing they have to a mother."

This seemed to catch Erza of guard, she was about to protest when she realised that actually it was only her, Cana and Mira who held any female seniority, Jellal was right. "Hmm, I suppose your right, that's really weird Jellal what the hell." Erza laughed at the ridiculousness of it.

"Although, Link, he's different isn't he?" Jellal continued sounding solemn.

"Aye, he's not a younger brother like the rest of them, in fact he isn't like a brother to me at all. It's strange."

"Well he is definitely as strong as you, I haven't had a fight as hairy as that since… Well since Jura at the grand magic games."

"Even so using Sema against him was a bit harsh. I thought I told you never to use that spell again you could kill someone with it." A moment of silence told Link all he needed to know he had intended to kill with it, Link immediately shuddered, magic designed to kill humans it sounded like something Zeref would design. "How's your fiancé?" Erza asked avoiding the subject.

Jellal's voice became a bit higher as he said, "We're doing… fine,"

"I…I see." Erza said quietly. The pair continued to remain silent as they remained on watch for quite some time. Link couldn't sleep for most of it but eventually fell into a light slumber.

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**Net time: Team Natsu and Crime Sorciere join forces to search for the staff of insurrection but will they get there before the infamous dark guild Insignia and can Fairy Tail and Crime Sorciere work together effectively to stop what ever Insignia is planning?**

**i guess you'll habe to wait until next time!**

**Side chapter: Link's bombs!**

**So this chapter came to me while i was writing and considering how to resolve the issue of Link's limited bombs, it's a relatively short chapter but does resolve that issue in a way i really enjoyed writing. I hope you enjoy it!**

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Link sat at a table in the guild hall with team Natsu not long after his return from Edolas. There were some distinct members missing Erza, Wendy, Carla and Lucy had decided to head out on a girly trip, leaving Natsu, gray, Link and Happy at the guild. After witnessing the use of some of Link's various pieces of equipment all the guys had become incredibly interested. So after a lot of persuasion Link was made to give them a tour of his inventory. Laid out on the table of them was all kinds of equipment and Link was explaining the usage of each one. Weapons like the bow and the slingshot were obvious but the rest intrigued everyone. After showing off the beetle and (as Natsu put it) the glorified hairdryer, most of the guilds men had joined them including Macao, Wakaba, Romeo and even Gildarts.

"Hey Link why do you have a net?" Macao asked, confused as to why a warrior would have a net.

"Catching." He simply stated.

"Catching what?" Romeo asked.

"Well bugs mainly but it seems to catch a lot of demons of guard when I use it."

"And what are these?" Gray asked shoving his hand into one of the clawshots.

"Oh Gray be careful with…" Gray accidentally pulled the latch sending the claw immediately flying off where it latched to one of the roof beams and comically pulled Gray in a collision course towards it knocking him out cold.

"That's a clawshot, they take some getting used too." Link laughed scratching the back of his head.

"Well, well, well these beauties are hard to find nowadays." Gildarts chuckled examining.

"It looks like a big flower to me." Natsu said bored.

"Wow Link bug catching and flower picking, how manly." Romeo teased.

"BUG CATCHING AND FLOWER PICKING ARE MANLY SPORTS." Elfman yelled suddenly interested.

"Well you'd think that Romeo but these aren't any ordinary flowers, they're bomb flowers." Gildarts said.

"Seriously? I have got to try these!" Natsu said snatching one and lighting the wick before throwing it.

"Natsu no!" Link yelled but it was far to late. The bomb exploded sending shards of the floorboard everywhere. "Aw come on I don't have many of those left." Link complained.

"That's what I was thinking, these things are very hard to come by nowadays." Gildarts sympathised after flicking Natsu as lightly as he could for his misbehaviour (he flew through the roof leaving even more destruction behind).

"Yeh, they're really useful I could definitely do with some more." Link sighed. Simultaneously all the men had the same idea. Link looked up and saw the evil glints in their eyes.

"Well Link why don't we make some, it can't be that hard especially with Gildarts' help." Wakaba suggested. Link looked nervous but everyone seemed to want to do it so there was no getting out of it.

After Link gathered up his things he was dragged by the collar out of the guild along with everyone who had been participating mumbling something about this being a horrible idea. Cana, Mira and Lisanna witnessed this from the bar but dismissed it hoping it wouldn't lead to trouble.

(…)

Not long after, they arrived at a workshop in the city where they had all the materials they needed. The owner of the establishment had a vague understanding with the master and allowed the guild to use the workshop so long as they paid for what they would inevitably break, that still didn't stop him being terrified every-time someone came to visit.

After five minutes of setting up Elfman, Gildarts, Macao, Romeo, Wakaba, Natsu, Gray and Happy were all crowding around Link designing the new bombs. The basic idea was to use lacroma's loaded with Gildarts' crash magic as fuel with Romeo and Macao's controlled fire magic to act as ignition protected by an insulating layer of to surround the lacroma and keep it from exploding in Link's pocket. Very quickly after starting the practical work did it all go wrong. It turned out the ignition mechanism was going to be a lot harder to set up and so everyone crowded around Link who was manufacturing the bombs. With shaking hands he soldered pieces in place using Natsu's fire to heat the metal pieces and Gray's to cool it. It was incredibly risky work and Link was visibly sweating.

"Swab." Link ordered and elfman gently patted his forehead with a towel removing any stray beads of sweat. Link looked down at the make shift bomb waiting for guidance from Macao, Wakaba and Gildarts who were all craning over the top of him making him feel incredibly pressured.

"You doing well kid, now you simply need to bolt those to cogs in there." Wakaba said.

"Here?" Link asked being careful not to trigger the live bomb.

"No, between the lever. That's it quickly bolt them in." Link did so taking the screwdriver from romeo. The second they were in place the tension fell and everyone finally relaxed.

"Alright, next time we make the mechanism before loading the lacroma." Link suggested.

"Urm… Link what's the ticking noise?" Romeo asked. Everyone fell silent. Sure enough there was a distinct ticking noise that was slowly increasing in tempo.

"Well shit." Link said.

(…)

Makarov sat drinking on top the Fairy Tail bar. He looked around and noticed how quiet the guild seemed, not that he was complaining if it was quiet, it was peaceful and peace is incredibly important for an old mans heart. Then again at the same time peace was disconcerting and unsettling. Makarov frowned and looked down at his drink.

"Is everything alright master?" Mira asked in her usual sweet voice,

"The guild seems quiet… Too quiet,"

"Hmm I guess it does, a lot of the guys aren't here so there isn't much going on."

"Really, all at the same time that seems unlikely do they all have jobs?" Makarov asked.

"Well they didn't tell me I just saw them dragging Link out of the guildhall, I wonder what they're up to." Mira pondered airheadedly.

Makarov downed his drink and shuddered, "I don't want to…"

"KABOOM!" An explosion resonated throughout the city and even the guildhall felt the shockwave.

Makarov sighed, "Mira, I'm gonna need something a lot stronger." He said holding out his mug.

(…)

Many hours later the men of the guild all sat in the crater that was the workshop.

"We've finished!" Happy cheered. Everyone else was more than happy to join the cheer as they had completed their mission. Though no one had gone unscathed it was a job well done. Over the course of the day they had perfected the bomb making technique and had managed to make plenty of bombs of various different types. The small bombs were suggested by Gray, he had the idea that Link could tie them to his arrows to create explosions from a distance, they would also make good hand grenades. In a near fatal experiment they had also managed to make fire bombs by loading Natsu's dragon slayer magic in the lacroma instead of crash magic. The results were satisfyingly destructive so everyone decided they would be a good addition and made more. The standard crash bomb had a significantly greater effect than Link's old bomb flowers and as demonstrated had the power to destroy a whole workshop and more. Wakaba had even managed to develop a mechanism that would work underwater so the water wouldn't quench the flames needed for the ignition. Overall the men were incredibly pleased with themselves and were now ready to get back to fairy tail and celebrate after the day of hard work in the only way they knew how. Unfortunately fate had other plans.

"What in Heaven's name happened here?" A stern woman's voice came from outside the ruins of the workshop. Erza stood with her arms folded over her chest looking down at the men. Everyone just stared at her in sheer and utter fear. Only Link was brave enough to answer as he had little experience in Erza's punishments.

"Hey Erz I didn't know you were back, don't worry we're done now we'll just tidy up and we'll meet you at the guild." Everyone stared at him shocked.

"Hohoho, you think your going to get away with this, Link?" She asked. Link couldn't retort and was starting to get scared. "Look at what you've done to the owner of this place." She said pointing at a small black haired man who was hugging his knees and shivering in fright.

Erza began to walk into the crater, "I think it's time I taught you gentlemen a lesson." She said summoning her purgatory mace. Even Gildarts was shaking in fear as everyone backed away preparing to make a break for it until 'click, tick, tick tick'. Everyone turned to look at the culprit and Happy smiled back at the rest of them with a sheepish grin on his face.

"Hehehe, see ya!" Happy said as he zipped into the sky being chased only by the voices of the angry men before both them and Erza truly felt the fruits of their labour.

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**(Later on they all tried again and successfully replenished Link's stock of bombs for usage in future chapters)**

**One last thing, i am still open any time to ideas for the side chapters, i only have a few running around in my head and could do with a lot more so please review or pm me if any of you have any ideas. Thank you****.**


	29. Ambush

**Chapter 29 - Ambush**

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Erza looked down at Link's sleeping face, it was well past dawn and the slob was still curled up on the ground resting his head on his hands with no more covering than his clothes.

"Geez, this guy can sleep anywhere." Erza sighed watching the drool dribble down his cheek.

"Well here goes nothing." She said. The others realised a storm was coming and hid behind a nearby log. Erza breathed in calmly before she opened her brown eyes ferociously.

"LINK WAKE THE HELL UP BEFORE I THROW A FRYING PAN SO HARD AT YOUR FACE THAT YOU'LL BE SEEING STARS FOR THE NEXT THREE THOUSAND YEARS!" Everyone else flinched as Erza stamped on the poor warrior's stomach forcing him out of his slumber. Link woke with a start rolling out of the way of the attack and summoning the master sword out from its sheath telekinetically and raising it behind him as he entered an almost beast-like combat position with a hand on the floor and the blade ready to tear through its foe. His feral eyes met Erza's. The whole group flinched at the ferocity of the two as they stared at each other. All except Jellal who stood there stifling a laugh.

In less than a second Link's eyes melted and he adorned a goofy grin as he stood scratching the back of his head. Erza also relaxed, it was as if two titanic beasts had been shrunk down to the size of puppies.

"Morning, Erza any food around?" Link laughed.

"You just missed it, Natsu already ate your portion." Erza said harshly. Link looked over to a vey content Natsu and his bulging stomach and sighed in defeat. "Next time wake up earlier." Erza commanded, showing him mercy by, throwing him a small loaf of bread without looking. Link caught the meal and wolfed it down voraciously.

"Cheersh ersha!" He said with a disgusting, food filled grin.

"Right let's get moving we have to find the altar before nightfall. Jellal, Meredy any leads."

"We need to head north quite a way by then I believe Meredy can lead the way." Jellal said gesturing at his partner who smiled tilting her body sideways cutely.

"Excellent let's move out," Erza lead as everyone began to head north happily chatting and arguing as they left Link who was still sat on the ground watching them walk away. With a stretch he stood up and looked towards the risen sun enjoying it's warm rays. He looked over at the back of Jellal as he walked away, frowning as he watched him talk to Erza. There was something about him that Link didn't like. The Master Sword began to glow and become warm in his hand distracting from his thoughts.

Link chuckled, "Good morning to you too Fi."

Link walked over to where he had left his shield and scabbard and placed them securely on his back before sheathing the master sword and running to catch up with the troop of mages.

(…)

The seven mages (and two exceeds) arrived in a clearing an hour later, the morning had been uneventful and so the group had made good progress. They trekked through the lowlands of the mountain range they had come from and deeper into the expansive forest that lay beyond. Link looked up to the trees noticing the blossom buds that were beginning to form in the trees. Very soon they would be thrust into the bliss of spring and this forest would become a sea of pink when looked down upon from the snow peaked mountain tops in the south. Link looked ahead to see Lucy and Natsu holding hands as they entered the wide clearing. Link blushed upon taking in their display of affection quickly flitting his eyes over to Erza who was happily catching up with Jellal. He turned his eyes back to face forward before he felt a presence to his right. Looking in that direction Link saw the pink haired mage, Meredy, smiling at him.

"You alright link? You look a bit flustered." She stated cheekily.

"Urm, what? I'm fine never better." As he spoke he stumbled on his words blushing more and looking away.

Meredy giggled, "you struggle hiding your emotions don't you." Link sighed in surrender, "hey I never said it was a bad thing, besides I don't blame you for feeling this way. Spring's coming and your single with love blossoming all around you, you obviously feel kinda down." Meredy said reading him like a book. "Not to mention the arrival of Erza's previous crush making you feel pressured, intimidated. oh and what's that? Jealousy?!" She said sarcastically as Link glanced back at Erza and Jellal.

"Well aren't you the expert." Link said with rivalling sarcasm.

"I have to be, my magic depends on the strong bonds between people. Besides you wear your emotions as readily as your armour."

"So if that's the diagnosis, does your magic give you a cure?" Link asked, there was no point hiding anything now. It seemed everyone knew of his feelings for Erza except Erza herself.

"I think you will be able to work it out on your own, buuut if it doesn't work out you should come find me 'kay. I'll make you forget all about her." She whispered not so subtly. Meredy looked back, smiling at the face of jealousy she was inspiring on Erza's face as she moved into Link pressing her large breasts up against Link's arm making him tense up nervously and blush.

Of all people it was Jellal who saved Link. "Hey Meredy, we should be close enough now." He called over. Meredy laughed to herself attracting the attention of the other six front runners.

"What'cha gonna do?" Happy said as he hovered above Natsu's head.

"It's a spell I developed it locates strong sources of dark magic, we can use it to find the staff." Meredy explained.

"That sounds really useful. We were going to use Natsu's nose but I think your magic trumps that." Lucy said.

"Hey, I'll have you know my nose has never lead us wrong." Natsu said proudly causing everyone to look at him incredulously, Natsu's nose had always been more reliable for getting them into trouble rather than out of it. Jellal chuckled lightly enjoying being back with the carefree members of Fairy Tail. They always brought a sense of stress relief to him.

"Well we shouldn't waste time." Meredy said holding the palm of her hand to the sky. Link quickly took out the master sword. "Hey Fi, get a read on her magic we may be able to use the spell with your dowsing abilities in the future."

The sword began to glow. "Master, it may be difficult but with sufficient data on the spell it is a possibility."

"You ready?" Meredy asked. Link nodded and Meredy closed her eyes preparing the spell. A golden orb formed above her upraised palm. Meredy opened her eyes unleashing her magic. "Maguilty sense: golden compass!" She called causing the golden orb to expand into a magic circle with many rotating bands. Link could see all kinds of illustrations, it showed north south east and west as well as many other helpful components, a golden sword span slowly in the middle of the the circle. Meredy called "Dark direction!" The blade began to spin before lining up with the image of a skull that was facing north east.

"So the staff is that way huh?" Gray stated.

"Most likely, this spell points to the strongest source of dark magic in the area which is most likely going to be the staff, so let's get going." Jellal answered

"I hope we get there on time." Wendy said quietly.

"Aye, let's move quickly and get this Job finished." Link said.

(…)

Less than half an hour later the group ran into a large menhir stone that stood in the middle of the forest. The stone was enormous reaching over five metres in height and was a good metre wide. Carla laughed at Happy's face as he stared at the massive rock.

"Hey guys, there's another one over there!" Natsu yelled pointing at an almost identical menhir to the right of the first.

"And a third over in that direction." Lucy said puzzled.

"They seem to be making a line." Wendy noticed.

"No, not a line a circle, there are no doubt more of these making an enormous circle." Erza told them.

"And I'd be willing to bet the altar is in the centre." Gray deduced.

"Aye these are quite common they are magic circles used to seal in dark magic. We've encountered a few in our travels but not this size." Jellal said frowning. "We should make haste I have a bad feeling about this." The rest of the party nodded and began to run (or fly) towards the centre of the circle passing two other smaller rings of menhirs on the way.

It did not take much time at all for them to come across a stone circle which was much more manmade. Stones had been stacked on top of each other like arcs with large enough gaps between each pillar for the mages to walk through. The mages entered the stone circle and saw the altar in the centre. Natsu ran up to it eagerly.

"Natsu, I don't think that's a good idea." Lucy cautioned knowing he wouldn't listen to her. To her surprise Natsu stopped, "Wow, Lucy you found out how to control him." Happy said.

"No that's not it." Erza said worried. Link walked up next to Natsu his fist clenched tightly. They were too late. The simple stone slab in the centre of the ring was empty and cracked down the middle.

"I thought as much." Jellal said.

"Oh, of course you did." Link said biting back at Jellal.

"Hey, you two don't start fighting now, we need to find out where they are headed." Meredy said standing between the two mages.

"Well come on then meredy fire up the golden pointer thing we can track them down." Natsu yelled.

"Sorry Natsu, it will only point back here due to the residual dark energy released after sealing this thing. That's what happened before, the seal always has to be stronger than the artefact so when it's broken the energy interferes with the compass." Meredy explained glumly. She sat on a rock annoyed with the situation. Link looked around for any clues finding none until he heard a stick snap behind him. He turned and reached for his sword. Everyone looked at him.

"Something wrong?" Carla asked before she was interrupted by Link shushing her.

His pointed ears twitched hearing only silence until a voice called. "NOW!" Link span round as he spotted a blue projectile fly at him. The projectile struck his shield dissipating on contact, Link reached round grabbing the shield off his back and launching himself towards the attack. Immediately he felt the presences of many mages surrounding the magic circle. Projectiles of all kinds were instantly launched around the stone circle many aimed at the warrior. Link closed his eyes stopping instantly,

"Nayru's love." he called sensing the immediate danger. The blue crystal formed around him holding strong as multiple projectiles struck the shell. Link looked around to his friends. They appeared to be handling the situation well. Natsu and Wendy were airborne thanks to Happy and Carla and were attacking from the air with their dragon slayer magic. Erza was in her heaven's wheel armour charging at her attackers using her dual blades to deflect any magic thrown at her. Lucy had summoned Sagittarius who was firing arrows at the foes whilst gray attacked with his ice lances. Jellal was charging with Erza his fists glowing like yesterday whilst meredy was summoning blades of blue light around her. Link released his magic and used Farore's wind to teleport away appearing above three of the attackers. With a spin attack he dealt with the three mages all in one knocking them all out as their bodies slumped against the trees and stones. A man ran up to him ice surrounding his fist. Link raised his shield blocking the punch and sending waves up the mans arms then with a swift kick the man was knocked to the ground in agony. A woman jumped down from above Link throwing what seemed to be a storm cloud at Link. Link used his sword to channel a lightning bolt from the cloud just as he had with Demise and sent the lightning bolt right back at her with a horizontal slice. Link felt the wind change as another woman ran right past Link at an awesome speed planting a punch in his stomach winding him slightly.

"Not this again," Link complained remembering Jellal's speed attacks from last night. "Farore's wind." He yelled. The wind picked up and surrounded Link he felt his arms become lighter and faster. Link was getting to grips with the new form of Farore's wind. He located the speeding individual. Using the wind to drive his legs Link ran towards the woman getting close to matching her speed. Link sheathed his sword and shield jumping up on top the stone circle he pulled out his bow firing a single shot. The arrow sailed true and struck its target causing the woman to trip and fall head first into a tree. Link fired a few more of his arrows removing any threats and covering for his teammates. Fortunately it was not long until the battle was over. Link looked down to find a pile of groaning men and women with the same guild mark in various places on their bodies. A cross surrounded in chains, the symbol of insignia. He looked to his friends, although some had taken hits all were smiling at their victory and had sustained no major injuries. Link jumped down from the stone circle putting his bow away.

"All these people are from insignia," he called.

"That means they know where the staff is headed." Gray realised.

Erza's eyes shone with a sadistic light. She grabbed the first mage she could.

"TELL ME WHERE YOUR TAKING THE STAFF!" She yelled at a poor young man who couldn't speak for fear of the red haired mage. Erza head-butted him in rage and moved onto her next victim. Link recoiled in fear of Erza, she never ceased to terrify him in her 'Titania mode' as Natsu and Happy called it. Meredy looked round and winked knowingly at Link who blushed as he watched Erza's brutal interrogation.

Erza soon walked over to the rest of the party her forehead was red but she held a triumphant smirk. "They are headed to their guild hall in Nagamasa, a league or so East of here no doubt they are returning the staff to their guild leader. We can't let that happen. I believe our best bet in this situation would be to split up and do a wide spread of the forest so we don't miss them."

"That sounds like a good idea." Lucy stated. "I'm going with Natsu!" She shouted excitedly.

"I don't think so I believe you are going to be too much of a distraction for him besides I want Natsu and Gray in a team, since they're faster I want them and Link to head straight towards Nagamasa." Erza stated sternly.

"In that case me and Meredy will head in a different direction." Jellal said. Link looked at Jellal if they got to the staff Link may never get it they could just simply run off and leave us in the dirt.

"Erza I think it's better if me and Jellal go together, I'm not sure if I can break those two up from fighting." He gestured to Natsu and Gray who were currently violently nudging each other with childish grins on their faces.

"You make a good point Link, I'll go with those two and keep them in check."

Gray and Natsu instantly stopped fighting and began to plead with them not to let Erza go with them. "c'mon boys." She said seductively as she wrapped her slender arms around there necks. "We'll have fun it'll be just like old times." Natsu and Gray shivered in fear.

"That means I'm with Wendy and Lucy, please bare with me." Meredy said as she bowed to the surprised mages.

"Actually this way is better me and Meredy have a telepathic connection thanks to her magic so at least two of our groups will be in contact." Jellal stated.

"Fantastic, We'll split up here. Jellal, Link you head south east and flank across that side. Meredy, Wendy, Carla and Lucy, you head down the middle. Me, these two, and Happy will head north east and flank around that way trying to overtake and intercept whoever has the staff. Stay vigilant of your surroundings and be prepared for a fight." Erza ordered. Everyone began to head in their assigned directions some more eager than others. Link noticed how much influence she had over the group, even Jellal and Meredy were willing to follow her commands. He looked over to Jellal in slight suspicion. He nodded towards Link.

"Should we head out?" He asked.

"Yeh, let's go." Link said as he began to run south east. Jellal followed him keeping pace.

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**Boom chapter done, next week we find out what our three parties will find on the road to Insignia's headquarters in Nagamasa and more information bout the guild leaders plans for the staff of insurrection.**

**Side chapter - A Romantic retreat: part 1**

**Thank you all for your ideas for side chapters they will really help and you should expect them in the next few weeks. This chapter just came to me about a week and a half ago so i decided i might as well make it a side chapter, it will help me learn to write fluff which is probably a weakness of mine and it will hopefully appease all you nalu lovers out there. Although this is kind of a set up for the actual romantic bit i did emjoy writing it and hope you enjoy reading it so make sure you tell me what you think!**

**oh by the way this is set just after yuletide which is after chapter 13 i think.**

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Lucy cheered loudly as she stepped into the crisp cold air of the mountains. She took in a deep breath admiring the stunning scenery, the snow covered tips of the mountains stood proudly against the blue sky with small clouds brushing past them as they sailed aimlessly through the skies. Frost covered trees that glittered in the sun crept up the side of the mountains. There was no place Lucy would rather be.

She turned around with a cute grin and faced the pink haired dragon slayer that was now her boyfriend. He was visibly pale and had enormous bags under his eyes as he groaned and collapsed onto the floor.

"Why did we have to catch the train Lucy?" He looked up at the blonde as if she had betrayed him.

Although Lucy felt sorry for him, she was having none of it. "Because it was the fastest way now come on, Natsu lets get on the slopes before it's too late." She grabbed Natsu by the scarf and began dragging him away with nothing but a carefree smile on her face.

(…)

"Hey Lucy, I really don't think this is a good idea." Natsu said shakily as he stood looking down a steep icy slope.

"Naw, c'mon you big wuss, skiing's fun you just need to try it. I promise you'll love it one you try." Lucy encouraged.

"You've done this before?" Natsu said dumbly.

"Loads of times my dad used to take me every winter."

"Well I guess he had quite a bit of money back then." Natsu said as Lucy nodded firmly. Natsu took another look down the slope and shivered. "You know maybe I'll just head home I don't think this is really my cup of tea besides I'm sure my motion sickness is going to play up."

Lucy grinned evilly. "Well I guess that's fine, but this is the only way down unless you want to get back on… the gondola."

"Oh hell no, I ain't getting on that thing until Happy stops asking for fish."

"Well then you've only got one option left, and do you know what?"

"What?" Lucy leaned in close her breasts pressed up against Natsu arm which caused him to blush as the gap between them closed. She moved her lips to his ear.

"The best way to learn how to ski all starts with a little push." Before he could comprehend what she had said she kissed him lightly in the cheek and gave him a gentle but firm push so that he slid down the hill.

"Wait, wait, wait, Lucy!"

Lucy smiled and waved him off as he increased speed.

Natsu was genuinely terrified he was increasing speed exponentially and he had no idea what to do, his feet were firmly locked into place by two huge boots attached to two long skis. Suddenly he felt his stomach churn and bent over to nurse it but now he was going a lot faster and there was a group of kids in front of him, "oh, crap!" he yelled he leaned over and managed to narrowly avoid the kids which was when he saw his next obstacle. He was on a collision course with a rock, in panic he suddenly thrust his legs out and the rock slid under him just brushing his pants. He quickly swerved to avoid a group of trees but was thrown off piste and was still picking up speed. In sheer terror he began to move his body dodging the various obstacles and ducking under branches. His stomach was now the least of his troubles as he flew head first into a jump and was thrown into the air. As the wind whipped through his hair and his eyes surveyed the incredible landscape he had a moment of clarity, he was skiing.

Natsu looked down and spotted a blonde haired skier in a pink jacket she was quite far ahead and was carving stylishly down the mountain.

"I can't let her beat me to the bottom, heheh, I guess I'm all fired up now." Natsu yelled as he crouched down for a landing. Now he was going at an incredible speed throwing up snow behind him in his attempt to catch up with his girlfriend. He zipped past onlookers and soared down the mountain at a pace that made people gasp. He very quickly caught up with Lucy and flew past her leaving snow in his wake.

"So that's how you want to play it?" Lucy said accepting his challenge. "Bring it on sucker." She said confidently as she bent down to pick up speed. In almost an instant she caught up to Natsu showing off her superior skills as she overtook him.

Natsu smirked. "You know just cos we're dating doesn't mean I have to go easy in you." he yelled as he threw his arms behind him and lit up his fist. "Fire Dragon Boost!" Immediately jets of fire erupted out of his hands increasing his speed massively and turning the snow to slush behind him. He shot past Lucy who narrowly avoided his flames shouting. "Natsu, what are you doing? your going to… Natsu!" Natsu suddenly hit a jump and launched himself skyward again but with his enormous speed and boosters he instantly lost control and began spinning wildly in midair as he flew towards the end of the run. A small wooden shed caught him getting totally destroyed in the process. Lucy quickly skied up along side the ruined shed and threw off her skis to see if Natsu was alright.

"Natsu, are you alright? Your not hurt are you?" She yelled as she dug through the charcoaled rubble to find him. She finally found him upside down with only one ski and one pole looking like he had just lost a fight with a bear but he was grinning madly.

"That was… AWESOME! Quick Lucy lets go again." Natsu said instantly recovering and grabbing her hand.

She pulled him up and with a chuckle said. "Well you know, maybe that's not the best idea." She looked up at the side of the mountain, and the trail of destruction that was always expected to follow Natsu.

Natsu noticed and said, "Lucy what did you do? I thought you were more responsible than this."

"HEY THIS WASN'T ME!" She shouted madly. Then she noticed a tear fall from Natsu's eye, "Lucy, with destruction of this size I can no longer call you my student." He then knelt in front of her in a pleading position. "Please, teach me your ways Master!" He pleaded, tears flowing like a flood now.

Lucy sighed saying to herself, "he doesn't even realise it was him who did all this."

(…)

Later that day Lucy's muscles were aching heavily, it had been a tough day of skiing, with Natsu's near instant love of the sport coupled with his natural destructive skills, it had become quite a long day. Now she was in the couples bathroom gazing at herself in the mirror. After a long day of skiing Natsu had invited her out to dinner, Lucy was surprised at the sudden offer not expecting him to be thinking that far ahead but he told her to dress nicely and head to the bistro just a street away from the hotel. She was now wearing a tight red dress she was saving for such and occasion along with stunning earrings and a simple but complimentary necklace. Her hair was tied up into a stylish messy bun and she had made sure her makeup was perfectly on point. With a resolute nod she decided she was ready. As she turned to the door a knot formed in her stomach… This was it… Her first date with Natsu, new waves of anxiety began to flood her, did she look okay? was the dress too revealing?… Not revealing enough? Would it be too much for him? What if he has other plans? What if he wants to take me to something weird like a fish market? What happens when we get back to the hotel? What if he wants to…? Lucy could have fainted right then, whether out of nervousness or excitement she didn't know. She bent over the sink and breathed heavily when she noticed something in her bag. It was a picture, I picture of her and Natsu when she had just joined Fairy Tail. As she took the picture out and while looking at it she calmed down, there was no need for her to be so scared, it was Natsu, the Natsu who saved her life, the Natsu who brought her to Fairy tail, the Nastu who she was now dating, the Natsu who adored her more than anyone in the world. Images of their memories together flickered through her mind and she relaxed smiling fondly at the memories.

"I guess it's time to make some more." She said with a reminiscent smile before she left the bathroom to set out on their first date.


	30. The Mages of Insignia

**Chapter 30 - The Mages of Insignia**

**hello again, so last time fairy tail and crime sorciere split up with Link and Natsu heading south towards the mountains, Lucy, wendy and Meredy heading down the centre and natsu gray and Erza heading north. This chapter is about what they encounter in their race to intercept the staff of insurrection**

**Please fave and follow if you enjoy it and review if you have anything to say. **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Breathing deeply Link ran through the forest, his feet hitting the ground in a regular beat. There were no discernible paths so Link had to improvise by cutting through the undergrowth where necessary. Jellal seemed to be keeping up with Link following the trail Link was making. Unfortunately for them by heading south they were heading back towards the mountain range meaning they were constantly running uphill. The area was also beginning to get rockier and there were more spruce trees up here than down in the forest. Link considered trying to turn into a wolf it may help conserve energy but the power it required to make the switch was probably not worth it. The ground was beginning to clear up so Link sheathed his sword. Jellal managed to catch up to the warrior and they were now running side by side through the forest.

"You know, I never got to tell you this yesterday but you really are a powerful mage. You really had me on the ropes yesterday." Jellal complimented

"Thanks I guess." Link would have complimented him on his own fighting if he had not purposely tried to kill him. "What kind of magic were you using something to do with stars right?"

"Aye, Heavenly body magic, it's an incredibly powerful lost magic I taught to myself as a child. It takes the power of celestial bodies and turns it into powerful attacks."

"Don't you think lost magic should stay lost?" Link said spitefully.

"It's true I originally chose this magic for all the wrong reasons and maybe it should have stayed a secret but don't forget your magic is a lost magic too." Link almost laughed he had him there. "I tend not to worry about it too much, magic is magic it has the potential to do both good and evil. It all depends on whose hands they lie in."

"So what about your hands are they good or evil?" Link asked out of place. Jellal sighed as he looked at the mage with a sad look in his eyes. He was about to speak when he sensed a huge force heading this way.

A boulder 10 feet across smashed through a tree heading straight for Link. Jellal ran over shoving Link out the way before avoiding the boulder himself. it smashed into the ground and rolled away. Link and Jellal slid to a halt in a heap. They quickly got to their feet and Link drew his sword and shield. They looked ahead, Link could feel the presence of a mage ahead. He seemed strong and the presence was stubborn and unmoving like rock.

"Over there you feel it?" Jellal asked.

"Yeh!" Link said sprinting ahead. They soon broke free of the forest and found themselves facing a short cliff. Atop the cliff stood a large topless man with bulging muscles. His skin was more tanned than even the young boy from the other night, no doubt due to a lot of training under the sun. His brown hair was short and spiked hardly moving in the wind and he wore a messy brown stubbly beard.

"So you're the ones that were fighting yesterday." Be bellowed in a strong voice. "It's good to see you made up, I have always preferred it when people get along."

"Are you a member of Insignia?" Link shouted.

The man showed them his guild mark on his forearm. "Aye, it is a shame but I'm afraid today we cannot be friends." The bold man shouted. "We should not miss out on the formalities. I am Roran, an S class earth mage specialising in the manipulation and control of rocks." He looked down at the two waiting for them to introduce themselves.

"Link of Fairy Tail, mostly Sword magic." He said brandishing his sword. He looked to his left, expecting Jellal to introduce himself. Instead Jellal scoffed and answered by running up the hill his hand surrounded in golden light.

Roran grimaced. "How rude, obviously you don't take from your respectable friend," Roran said pulling a boulder from the earth. He threw the boulder down the hill with terrifying velocity. Jellal dodged the boulder only to be face with another. His fists shone brightly as he punched the boulder. It shattered into tiny pieces that rained down on Link who used his shield to defend the rockfall cursing Jellal's fighting style. Jellal soon landed next to him as he had lost all of his momentum.

Link decided to attack and Jellal joined him in an upfront assault. With a yell they ran up the hill towards the cliff face. With a stomp Roran used his magic to raise slabs of rock from the ground in front of them, obstructing their ascent. Link managed to dodge and run around the rocks, Jellal smashed right through them. A large boulder came down on Link. Flooding magic into the Master Sword he stabbed upwards piercing the rock. With a flick of his wrist the rock smashed and Link was allowed to continue.

Jellal had already reached the cliff and was flooding magic energy into his legs in order to clear it in a single jump. Shattering the ground below him he jumped up throwing a golden fist in front of him to break through the blocks that were pushed out of the mountain to block his path. Link sheathed his sword and grabbed hold of his clawshot. It pierced the rock and began to pull Link up the cliff. As a rock fell towards him, Link managed to dodge by landing on the rock and pushing off it. He landed on the cliff face and quickly found ledges for his hands and feet.

His triforce glowed as Link used Farore's wind to teleport himself the rest of the way up the cliff. Jellal soon also managed to reach the top of the cliff.

"Hmm, you guys have skill." Roran complimented. He stamped his feet and two square rock slabs sprouted from the earth between him and his targets. Link and Jellal began to run towards the man who began to perform palm thrusts towards each of his attackers one after the other. Link realised why the man was so well built. Somehow he was using a martial art along with his magic in order to manipulate the earth. With each palm thrust a spinning slab of rock was thrown at them. Link used his sword to slice through them, carving his path towards his target. Jellal was smashing through them with his fists. Both made incredible progress and got within attacking distance of the rock mage. Roran smashed two fists into the ground forcing two pillars directly under both Link and Jellal to throw them up. Both mages lost their balance and were thrown into the air. Link and Jellal could only defend as two boulders knocked them back down to the bottom of the cliff.

Link managed to land at the bottom of the cliff narrowly avoiding another boulder. He laughed happily, this guy was no walk in the park. Link now understood why Natsu loved fighting other mages so much. This guy was managing hold his own against them, it just made the fight that much more fun. Jellal seemed to be having less fun, he grimaced in annoyance. Placing his palms together in a seal he activated his meteor spell. Link noticed he intended to rush the man. Link watched Jellal surrounded by golden light as he ran with incredible speed up the hill. Smashing through any boulders the man was throwing at him, turning them to dust. Link was about to attack when he noticed something. The shards of rocks that Jellal was breaking through were being suspended in mid-air. Roran was somehow controlling all the tiny rocks at once. He shouted as Jellal got to the top of the cliff. "Always be aware of your battlefield. Pebble bullets!" Jellal ran towards the man with speed as thousands of tiny rock shards hurtled towards him. Before Jellal could get close Roran summoned a small rock under him tripping the mage up and deactivating Jellal's meteor spell. Jellal quickly got up and dodged the stone bullets as they collided with the ground he was just on. Once again setting up his meteor Jellal ran as fast as he could from the bullets which were only missing by inches as they followed him leaving a trail of razor sharp rocks in his wake. Roran stomped and formed a large stone pyramid around himself defending him from attacks.

Link watched as thousands of tiny pebbles chased after Jellal and a collection flew down the cliff towards him. Link yelled "Naryu's love." Summoning the azure crystal around him. The pebbles bounced harmlessly off the shell but were soon repositioned to fire again. A bead of sweat fell down Link's face, he allowed the shell to shatter but tried to stop the gems from dematerialising. He succeeded to an extent and cast them out to meet the rocks that were aiming for him. Rocks collided with the gems and the attacks were cancelled out leaving Link free.

Link looked up to the pyramid Roran was inside then to jellal who was still defending against the bullets. Somehow Roran could still see, _he must be using his power to see where we are from a defensive position perhaps using the vibrations we make when we hit the ground, we also cannot hit him until we deal with that defensive pyramid._ In a stroke of genius Link came up with an idea, he used Farore's wind to get into a tree hoping it would be a blind spot and set to work.

Jellal was having some trouble, the pebbles were relentless and didn't let him near Roran inside his little fortification. Jellal needed to find a corner, there he could channel the fire down one direction which would be easier to defend. Recklessly he jumped straight off the cliff glimpsing Link in a tree doing something. Jellal had no time to complain at Link's odd methods as he landed at the bottom of the cliff. Immediately he placed his hands together and a magic seal opened in front of him. "Black rift!" He yelled, separating his hands. Upon separation a black tear appeared in front of him expanding until it was big enough for him to walk in. The rocks arched round and flew directly towards him he quickly jumped behind the tear. They flew right into one side of the tear and never came out of the other. Once every pellet had gone through Jellal stopped the magic sealing them away.

He looked up into the tree Link was in he was holding a bow nocked with an arrow tipped with a small orb that was smoking. Link loosed the arrow and it flew straight over Jellal's head there was a deafening explosion and Jellal realised what Link had done. He quickly figured out what Link wanted him to do. Jellal ran out of his hiding place and cleared the cliff in a single jump. Once he was above Roran and the now open shell he was in, Jellal opened seven seals in the shape of a constellation and shouted. "Grand Chariot!" The magic seals immediately let loose seven beams of starlight with smashed through the rest of the rock mages shell and struck him. The dust settled and the mage just lay there. Jellal smiled, they had won.

Like usual he walked up to the mage and pulled out his dagger, it was as black as night with a red pommel stone. Roran quickly realised what he was intending when a foot landed on his chest.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Roran called "what kind of messed up mages are you?"

"I could say the same thing for you, Devil worshipper." Jellal said as he brought the dagger down on the man. Roran quickly said. "Cryse, Hero I'm sorry." As he brought his arms up to defend the blow in desperation. He was cut short as he heard a metallic ring above him. He opened his eyes to see the black dagger land with a clatter a few metres away. He looked the other way and saw the green swordsman had just shot an arrow and had already knocked another.

"Jellal! Pull something like that again and I will show you no mercy! Get away from him." Jellal was furious he looked over to the Green warrior as he stood in the tree enraged beyond belief. He met the warrior's eyes, even from here he could see the intense blue stare, his eyes feral, filled with anger, courage and honesty. Jellal cowed under his gaze like a beaten dog. There was no defying eyes such as that. With what remained of his pride Jellal backed away holding his hands up.

Link used Farore's wind to teleport over. He glanced angrily at Jellal. "You do anything like that again and I will make sure Erza knows, this may be okay in your little independent guild but when your with Fairy Tail you respect other mages and do not do them any more harm than necessary, you got a second chance they deserve one too, I thought you would understand this."

"Yeh, well dead men don't talk." Jellal said defiantly. Link looked disgusted at him. He turned his attention to Roran, "You're a good fighter so tell me why a normal guild like yours is seeking the staff of insurrection with the intent to use it?"

"I didn't have a choice me and Cryse and a few other members when we found out what was going on we were forced to do Abaddon's bidding, if we didn't comply she said she would kill Hero."

"See what I mean Jellal, I they are being manipulated."

"Could you not feel the dark magic coming from the magic circle?" Jellal asked

"No I wasn't there in case I betrayed them, I was told to wait here and intercept any opposition. I failed in that regard."

"Hmm this isn't good, maybe the rest of your guild thinks it's an item used for good which means you have been misinformed. Listen Roran we're going to Nagamasa, one of our mages can heal you if you promise not to attack her."

"You have my word, I have been defeated I'm out of this game besides I'm only doing this for Hero."

"The boy who hypnotised us?"

"Aye, blood magic, its scary stuff be careful with him he's a lot stronger than I am."

"Right thanks for the help, Jellal send a message to Meredy get Wendy over here to take care of him. Meanwhile we should head off."

"Alright." Jellal said as he placed two fingers on his temple. Link walked over to the black dagger.

"I'll be looking after this." He told Jellal. Jellal scowled.

"Link there is a problem, I can't get through to her." He said.

"I thought as much, I believe your friends have encountered Puldrek and his pet, I'm afraid if there not careful they could well be dead. Puldrek is ruthless he does not possess the capability to respect another mage. There is something wrong with that man."

"We don't have time for a detour" Link said worried "and they have Wendy with them?"

"Meredy can handle it she is tougher than most people think." Jellal said.

"I guess we should move on." Link looked down into the forest, he could see Nagamasa in the distance. He placed a heart potion next to Roran. "Drink this when you feel a bit better. Let's fight again sometime."

Roran grabbed Link's wrist, "link," he said, "I'm leaving this in your hands." He placed a small smooth rock into Links palm, it was blood red. "Give this to Hero and he will know, please, save him from the insurrection, I know that you of all people can do it after all you're the hero of legend." Link gasped and looked into the mages eyes,

"wait how do you…?"

"The earth speaks of your greatness Link, I know you can do this, now go I will catch up once I've healed." Roran said with a pained gasp. Link nodded at the mage and pocketed the stone before quickly following Jellal into the forest.

(…)

Meredy woke up, Lucy and Wendy were stood in front of her in combat positions ahead of them was a man on a large black beast. The man was large and bulky he wore thick leather armour with what seemed to be rubber tubes running around his body. He wore a creepy bronze mask with two large black eyeholes that seemed empty. The mask extended above his head into a large metal rice hat. Meredy remembered him calling himself Puldrek, he was quite intimidating but nowhere near as intimidating as the large black beast he was riding. The beast stood with a hunched back on four deformed legs each easily the size of a human. It seemed to have no fur or scales just pitch black skin. Its head was like a shield, a large plate of flesh and bone covered the back of the beast's neck, at the edges the bone would break through in menacing spikes. Much like Puldrek the beast also wore some bronze contraption over its face but this one had no eye holes.

Once again Puldrek aimed the cannon on his arm at them it charged a sickly yellow beam and fired it at the girls. Wendy and Lucy stood fast the moment the shot was released Wendy yelled. "Sky Dragon Roar!" Letting forth a whirlwind of air from her mouth that threw the beam of target where it hit a nearby river.

Meredy tried to stand shivering in pain, she had been hit by one of those cannon shots and did not enjoy the experience in the slightest. Still she couldn't let Wendy and Lucy down so she forced herself to stand.

Lucy ran up summoning Capricorn from the celestial spirit world a bell tolled and the goat butler appeared holding his book. "Lucy I am aware of the situation and am at your service." The goat butler bowed. The beast bellowed and began to charge.

"Carla get me into the air!" Wendy shouted. Carla swooped down picking the young girl up.

Meredy was easily out of the way of the attack already.

"So you think an attack like that is going to work eh? Well I can tell you you're baaadly mistaken." Capricorn said as he jumped over the beast with ease. "Now come at…" Capricorn turned and stopped talking as he was face to face with Puldrek. He felt the barrel of the cannon on his chest. "Oh." Capricorn attempted to punch the man but it was far too late the cannon hit him throwing him back into a nearby river.

"Capricorn!" Lucy called.

"I'm sorry Lucy, I couldn't be of more help." Capricorn said as he vanished. Meredy cursed that was two celestial spirits down and neither Taurus nor Capricorn could do anything. Wendy swooped down and shouted "Sky Dragon Wing attack!" As she beat her arms like the wings of a dragon whirlwinds flew out of her arms striking her target. At first Puldrek was able to resist but quickly he was thrown back into the river at the strength of the little dragon slayer. Lucy ran to the water hoping to summon Aquarius while he was in the water.

"Open, Gate of the Water Bearer!" With another bell toll the mermaid appeared with a scowl on her face.

"How dare you summon me now? Did you not know I was in the middle of a date?" Aquarius yelled, summoning a whirlpool from her jar and casting the water at a terrified Lucy. Lucy was soaked as the water flooded the area. Even so Meredy did notice a certain enemy mage being sucked up by the vortex and thrown against the ground. Aquarius left with a final death glare at Lucy who scratched the back of her head before pulling out her whip. The large brutish man stood up.

"You little girl, are quickly becoming a thorn in my side. Hannibal, burn her to ashes."

The grotesque black beast screeched forcing everyone to cover their ears. From its gaping mouth it summoned bright blue flames. It spat the flames at an incredible speed striking Lucy before she could jump out the way. Puldrek turned and pointed his cannon towards Wendy and Carla. He shot a bolt of purple light which Carla tried to dodge but it clipped her wings and sent both her and Wendy to the ground.

Meredy watched her friend's fall, just like her they were on all fours clearly outmatched by the mage but none willing to give up. Meredy closed her eyes and faced the ground her long pink hair falling around her face. Jellal had taught her better than this, she couldn't lose to this guy it may not be true in the world of Fairy Tail but against dark guilds if you lose you die. Today as not going to be the day she lost, images of Ultear, other members of Grimoire heart that had cared for her as a child, Jellal and the whole of Fairy Tail flooded her mind. Everyone who had supported her at some point. As Puldrek and his beast laughed at them Meredy took the opportunity to open a sensory Link to Wendy.

Wendy can you hear me don't be alarmed it's Meredy, she told her telekinetically.

Yes, I can hear you. Wendy said her thoughts were weak and Meredy could feel her injuries.

I need your support magic, anything you can give I could use right now.

Why what are you planning. Wendy asked worried.

Don't worry about it just start casting if you can. Meredy finished closing the link.

Shaking Meredy stood up, her stormy eyes looked into the dark void of Puldrek's mask.

"Oh so one still stands, what are you going to do little girly?" He taunted. Meredy began to feel magic around her, the support spells were working. She felt her defence, magical and physical abilities increasing, she worried about how Wendy was faring casting these spells hoping it wasn't too much for the young dragon slayer.

"Last time someone called me girly, I sent so many blades at them they couldn't move for a week and on top of that you've hurt my friends. I'm afraid our fight ends here."

Puldrek jumped onto his beast. "Well come on then we're waiting." He taunted as he pointed his cannon at her a red orb forming around its rim.

Meredy closed her eyes and shouted her incantation. "By the power of the bonds that hold every human together: love, hatred, courage, fear. I summon the ultimate power at my hands my trump card. Maguilty sense: Indignation!"

Puldrek simply replied with, "humph, hell's shot."

Three blue magic circles opened in the sky above them they piled onto of each other and clouds began to swirl above them as energy seemed to be sucked into the sky. Puldrek fired a beam of red light into the sky to stop the attack but it was instantly met by a flash of blue lightning that tore through the shot as if it was wet paper. The spell indignation could only be used when Meredy was in a serious pinch, emotionally and physically which meant now the spell was at its strongest. Puldrek's beast, Hannibal, roared in pain as it struck them both throwing his mage off his back before running wildly into the forest. Meredy descended on her target, Wendy's sky magic surrounded her fist in a cloak of magic air with an unwomanly yell Meredy punched the fallen mage square in the face shattering the metal mask. She jumped back and watched as steam erupted from the mask and the man screamed in pain. He held his face in his hands before turning to the water, in panic he crawled to the water's edge and threw himself into the river allowing himself to he swept away by the water. Meredy was confused by his actions but had no time to dwell as she collapsed from exhaustion. Wendy's spells had worn off now. Wendy ran to Meredy's side, "You did it Meredy! Here let me heal you." She said, Carla followed closely behind earthbound by her injured wing.

"Wendy please take care of Lucy first, you don't need to worry about me I'll be absolutely fine, I'm just tired."

Wendy frowned before nodding "Okay, I'll be back soon."

"I'll make sure Jellal knows we're not going to get to Nagamasa any time soon." Meredy called.

"Good thing too, the visions I've seen are not pleasant, that staff is just…" Carla spoke softly.

"Carla, what did you see? You need to tell me it could be essential." Meredy asked panicked.

"I only got the vision after that shot hit my wing but you're not going to like it." Carla said. Before explaining her vision.

Meredy's face was filled with fear when Carla had finished.

"Jellal, Jellal please tell me you can hear me, it's not good…" Meredy said placing two fingers on her forehead a pink band forming round her wrist her face frowning in concentration and fear.

"Listen you need to know, the guild leader of Insignia, she's a necromancer."

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**Next time: so whats happening to Erza, Natsu and Gray? How close is the staff of insurrection to Nagamasa and the Guild leader, Abaddon? And what is the Insurrection?**

**Side Chapter: Cana's mission part II**

**so this is the second part of Link's first mission with Cana, to me it feels a bit rushed so i may improve on it later but hey. Last time Link and cana set of on a mission to find the stone of the fire wyrm for some old inventor. Erza in panic decides to follow them to keep specifically Link from ****'danger'**

**Please tell me what you think and if i can improve it and thanks for reading!**

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Link sighed and closed his eyes as he entered the bathtub. The pair were staying in an inn for the night close to their destination, the Dragon-tail Mountains. Of course when they arrived they first visited the old man who put in the request. Link chuckled as he remembered the man he hadn't seen more than the mans tiny legs poking out the bottom of a large machine he was working on but he explained where they would find the stone they were after as well as giving them a small deposit. After that the pair decided it was late and Link still hadn't recovered from his training with Erza so they both decided to head to a nearby inn to rest before their journey.

Link closed his eyes and sank into the warmth of the water letting the heat gently sooth his muscles. His thoughts moved onto Cana, over his short time in the guild they had become friends as they often bumped into each other at the bar. Link couldn't deny she was good looking and had no idea why she did not yet have a boyfriend, maybe it had something to do with her drinking habits. Link decided not to pry into the subject. Suddenly he heard a sound coming from the other side of the bath he opened his eyes slightly to see what it was.

"Cana!" He yelled his eyes opened wide as he covered his privates with his hands and sat up straight to face her.

Cana was stark naked on the other side of the bath, one of her arms was over her breasts covering them as much as she could and she was looking away from him slightly with a tint of red on her cheeks, whether it was from drinking too much of from slight embarrassment Link couldn't tell. Link instantly closed his eyes and looked away when he realised where he was looking.

"Jeez, Link you really know how to flatter a girl." Cana complained. "Besides what's the problem this is a dream come true for most of the guys in our guild."

"W…w…well, you know…" Link stuttered.

"Oh? What's this? Is the mighty warrior afraid of a bit of nudity? Wow your worse than Freed." Cana said moving teasingly closer to the blind Link. "Relax Link, it really doesn't matter besides this bath is big enough for the two of us and I'm not going to try anything." With this Link relaxed a bit which Cana was glad about, he was finally opening up to her he now at least had his eyes open but was still avoiding eye contact. "So Link you act like you've never seen someone naked before." At this the tips of Link's ears turned red.

"Well I have but I've never been you know… Intimate with someone." Link began thinking back to Zelda and his heart began to sink.

"Hmm, I know that look. Relax I'm only here because I stink of alcohol you just happened to be here at the same time. Besides Natsu, Gray and Erza used to do this kinda thing all the time."

Link felt a pang of jealousy "Really? So this is what you meant by adult bonding time?" Link said now looking in her eyes with a quizzical look.

Cana laughed. "Not quite,"

"Hey Cana why did you really invite me on this mission?" Link asked looking away again.

"I don't really know myself, I guess I do most missions either alone or with Macao and Wakaba. I guess I just wanted a change of pace and a new companion."

Link could empathise with her, "I understand, I spent over a year travelling more or less on my own, while I was at it I never noticed how lonely it was it was only after joining Fairy Tail and travelling with others like Erza and team Natsu and you I actually realised how alone I was." Link said with a frown, "after all that has happened to me, I am glad I joined you and made new friends I owe you all my life because without you I would have been lonely forever." Link was now hugging his legs like an insecure child.

Cana smiled, "well Link, I can't believe I'm saying this but it's getting late we should get some sleep." Cana climbed out of the bath wrapping a towel round her body. "See you in the morning, Link." She said as she walked out of the room. Link sighed and once again sank into the water letting it envelope him in a warm embrace.

(…)

Morning came and Cana was already waiting outside in the sun. She was wearing her black bikini with a white cardigan and white hot-pants, her fluffy blue handbag hung loosely at her side. She was basking in the sun as she waited for her new companion to finish paying for the rooms they rented. After only a moment he too stepped out into the sun. Cana gave him a quick look over. He was wearing his usual green tunic over his silver chain-mail. He also wore small bits of armour around his body consisting of his leather gauntlets and greaves as well as his silver shoulder guard. Peeking over his shoulder he could see the blade Erza had given him during their fight as well as the shield he always carried. His blonde hair poked messily out of his hat and his intense blue eyes met hers making her heart skip a beat. Cana knew for a fact that he looked nothing like a mage, his eyes were sharper and had far more experience, they were stunning but hid a ferocity that no normal mage held. She wondered if everyone saw what she saw when she looked at him, if it was just an illusion or a lie. She sighed gently as he approached her.

"Well then are we going? the entrance to the cave is only a mile away right?" Link asked.

"Yup, it's just ahead let's get moving and I'll explain my plan." Cana said. Link nodded and turned to look at airya who was perched on the roof of the inn. The bird and him nodded at each other in understanding before setting of towards the cave.

(…)

They very quickly approached the cave and upon entering they realised just how dark it was inside. Light barely had any presence in the tunnels and the rock here was cold and bare. Cana brought a white card out of her purse.

"Light Card!" She shouted and the card began to light up brightly illuminating their surroundings.

"That's pretty useful," Link announced be could have done with that kind of thing when he was adventuring around Hyrule.

"That's the fantastic thing about card magic, it is incredibly versatile the only issue is you have to have the right cards at the right time." Cana said. "It's a lot harder than most people think."

"I see, I think I'll stick to sword magic then." Link said happily as Cana chuckled.

The pair were now deep within the mountain, link was surprised at how cavernous the place was it was huge and made up of sprawling tunnels huge halls and deep chasms. Link figured you could easily fit a whole city down here. It was very soon Link sensed something, a sort of heat energy coming from the side. His ears twitched and he turned in the direction of the heat.

"You feel it too then?" Cana asked, Link simply nodded. "I believe that is what we are looking for then. Link draw your sword." Link didn't hesitate in unsheathing his sword and shield and holding it up in front of himself.

"I'll go first, you stay behind me and prepare for combat." Link commanded taking the lead as he inched into the next chamber.

As Link walked in he couldn't help but gasp. The chamber was huge and cylindrical reaching up into the darkness with thousands of person sized holes running up the side. The cavern was cast in an orange fiery glow whose source was the flaming cocoon in the centre of the room.

"It's sleeping." Link whispered to Cana. "This is what we are looking for right?"

Cana nodded. "Yes, we are aiming to steal the stone it is guarding, the stone of the fire wyrm. You need to be careful fire wyrms are no where near as strong as dragons but they are still pretty damn powerful."

Link frowned. "There doesn't seem to be a way to take the stone without waking it,"

"I think your right. The best way to do this is probab… Oh shit." Link turned to face the serpent and noticed a bright emerald reptilian eye had opened and was looking right at them. With a horrifying hiss it began to unwind itself from it's protective cocoon and began to rise from the ground very soon a large flaming serpent was hovering above them with malice in it's eyes. In one of its hands it held a flaming pearl which was no doubt what they were after. In a split second Link had finished analysing the beast, it was likely to be able to form projectile fire attacks which Link could absorb with his shield and fire shield earrings but it would also be able to use it's claws fangs tail and body to attack making it a very versatile foe.

"Cana I'm going to draw and keep its attention don't worry I can block his magic. I need you to use water and ice cards on it aim for where it does not have any armour. If the armour proves too much trouble tell me and I will try to deal with it. Don't do anything stupid and call if you need my protection." Link commanded. From where she stood she could see the strength in Link's eyes his determination and drive. He was no stranger to this at all. He looks so innocent and stupid most of the time I keep underestimating him she thought to herself. "Right, let's go!" Cana said drawing four cards into her hands. Link nodded and charged into battle.


	31. Nagamasa

**Chapter 31 - Nagamasa**

**well, I'm back again with another chapter as you can probably guess we are reaching the climax of this arc which i have actually more or less completed writing. (I needed to get a move on before exams take over my life). So this chapter is a set up for the rest of the arc in which we finally meet the mastermind of insignia, the sexy but insane abaddon.**

**Oh, and i've just discovered this fanfic has actually surpassed 100,000 words which is a bit of a milestone for me. **

**Follow and fave if you enjoyed it and please tell me what you think!**

**see you next week!**

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"He's over there!" Natsu yelled putting on a burst of speed as he ran through the town gates. Natsu, Erza and Gray were in close pursuit of Hero with Happy flying overhead. Hero had been running at incredible speeds for a boy so young, the three mages had only recently got this close to him. In hero's left hand was a long black wooden staff, a deep purple jewel sat at the top surrounded by gnarled ebony wood. The mages could tell from the horrid magic it was passively emitting that it was the Staff of Insurrection.

The trio had arrived in Nagamasa, the town was small and rustic with a stone wall surrounding its perimeter and huge stone towers within that pierced the heavens. In the centre of town a large gothic keep that stood surrounded by a wide moat. This building was Insignia's guildhall. Although the guildhall's round tower could be seen from any point in the city there was no straight road to its gates, the whole town was a labyrinth of houses with many people filling the streets in the late afternoon sun.

"Gray, Natsu, Happy, keep going after him, be careful, he knows these streets far better than we do, don't let him lose you, I'm going to try and intercept him." Erza ordered. "Requip, Flight Armour!" Erza called, her feline flight armour surrounded her and with incredible grace Erza flew off the ground and onto the rooftops.

Hero began to twist and turn through the streets, managing to avoid the many people standing in his way with ease due to his small stature. Natsu and Gray struggled as they barged through the crowds violently, neither could match Hero's speed. Gray realised that the boy must have been using some kind of magic to increase his speed. Happy was zipping ahead able to keep up with Hero, just.

"Jeez you guys are so slow speed up slowpokes!" He taunted with a grin.

"Is that kid enjoying himself?" Gray asked annoyed.

"I'll give the little brat something to laugh about, Fire dragons… ROAR." Natsu spat flames into the air singeing the woodwork of the close knit buildings of the street and terrifying everyone in the area. It was only then when everyone started moving out of their way. But still they were too slow.

"Natsu, we're losing him get on my back!" Gray yelled.

"What?" Natsu asked totally perplexed.

"Just fire flames behind us when I say." Gray picked up Natsu with ease throwing him into a piggy back. "Ice make slide!" Gray yelled stomping on the ground. Instantly a slide of ice was produced in front of them leading up to the roof top of the house ahead of them. "Natsu Now!"

"Fire Dragon Boost!" Natsu yelled letting fire fly out of his feet and hands which were both facing behind them. Gray and Natsu were launched at breakneck speeds up the slide launching them both high into the air and leaving a trail of absolute destruction behind them.

"Jeez Natsu, it didn't have to be that powerful." Gray complained as they sailed through the air.

"You gonna pick a fight with me now ice cube, I'll take you anytime." Natsu said elbowing the ice mage in the head. Happy chuckled watching the two mages bicker in mid-air.

"Argh, I'll make you pay for that later." Gray said as he spotted the young boy running through the crowds. He let go of Natsu and landed on the roof shattering a few roof tiles. Natsu had less luck, belly flopping onto the roof with a yelp.

"Godammit Gray, Happy, you could have easily caught me!" He yelled.

"But Natsu, I'm in heaven!" Happy said lying under a huge pile of fish he had just swiped from a vendor.

"Awesome, I haven't eaten all day!" Natsu quickly grabbed a hand full of fish grilling them with his flames before he wolfed them down.

"Natsu, happy, stop goofing off will ya!" Gray said as he ran ahead.

"Oh yeh Happy let's go!" Natsu yelled grabbing happy just before he could savour the first mouthful of fish, dragging the poor exceed away from his meal in tears.

Gray and Natsu now unobstructed quickly caught up to Hero. Gray ran ahead and jumped down in front of the boy coating himself in an icy aura.

"Hand us the staff." Gray ordered.

"Ha, like I'd give it to villains like you." Hero smirked before turning back. Natsu landed blocking the other direction his body now covered in flames.

"C'mon man, if we fail here Erza will kill us."

"It's what you villains deserve, but you won't have to worry about that after the guild master destroys all the evil in the world."

That seemed to confuse the two mages, they quickly dismissed it and ran at the boy, simultaneously saying.

"Fire Dragon Iron Fist!"

"Ice Make Hammer!"

Hero jumped up out of the way and the two mages collided producing a steam cloud as their magic collided. Hero planted his foot into Gray's head using him to push off and escape.

"Argh what is with this kid?!" Natsu yelled.

Gray grunted and ran after the boy following him into a large town square, there was a distinct lack of people here and Gray soon understood why. Erza stood face to face with Hero the terrifying glare she gave made Natsu, Happy and Gray halt in their tracks and shiver in their boots. Before her glance could turn to them they surrounded the boy three mages (and a cat) against one.

"Ah this looks like a pinch." The boy sighed, "I guess it's an occupational hazard."

"Your name's Hero right." Erza asked.

"That's right," he said proudly.

"Why are you doing this, do you know what that staff will do?"

"Of course I do, it will remove all the dark mages from the world including you,"

"Don't you realise that will kill them." Gray said.

"Don't you realise what it will do, Zeref made that staff." Erza reasoned.

"Master told me you would try to lie to me like that, this staff was made by the gods to aid humanity, by bringing it to Abaddon I will become a true hero."

"And what about all the innocent people that will get harmed the people who could get hurt."

"Stop lying already, I was told the staff hurt only the evil doers."

"I hate to say it but your guild master is lying to you, that staff has the potential to destroy this whole town."

Suddenly there was a new shout from above. "Hero, grab on!"

"Cryse!" Hero shouted happily.

Erza looked up to the sky, there was a woman up their she wore a long white robe but what stunned her were her enormous wings, they reached almost twenty feet from tip to tip and were covered in a glorious down of white feathers.

"Hey a giant pigeon!" Natsu said as he watched the woman fly down and pick up Hero.

"I wish I had wings like that," Happy admired the flying woman,

"You do you idiot." Gray yelled.

"Not important, c'mon we have to get to them before they reach the guild hall." Erza said making for the roof tops again.

"Happy, give me a lift." Natsu yelled.

"Aye sir." Happy swooped down and pulled Natsu into the air in pursuit of the angel.

Gray was left in the middle of the square alone, "C'mon guys. Where's my frickin' flying cat?"

In response, Gray turned the floor to ice and gave himself some ice skates. "I'll show them." Gray said as he expertly glided away towards the guild hall.

Natsu and Happy hurtled towards the angel, Natsu was about to roar when hero turned to look at them, his eyes lit up and the veins in his body began to glow. "Sanguinem Debilitas!" He yelled. Natsu instantly fell limp Happy was unaffected as he could not the boy's eyes behind Natsu.

"Natsu, wake up. I can't carry you like this!" He complained straining to stay in the air. Unable to stay airborne the pair plummeted into the rooftops closest to the guild curing Natsu's paralysis. Erza stopped next to Natsu looking up at the castle's front tower.

A young woman stood on a large balcony over the main entrance, a drawbridge that was sealed shut. The woman wore a body tight black suit with a red blouse which exposed her generous cleavage. Her long orange hair fell thickly around her shoulders but her red eyes were harsh and as deadly as daggers, even from a distance you could tell that this mage was not one to be taken lightly.

The golden haired angel landed gently putting Hero down as if he were her own child. Hero walked up to the woman in the suit.

"Abaddon we've completed the mission, here is the Staff of Justice."

"Hero, you have done incredibly well, with this our dreams can be realised, you are a true hero." Abaddon said kindly as she tussled his hair, hero beamed at the compliment oblivious to the manipulation he was under. Cryse clenched her fist and she looked to the ground with a pained expression.

"Your Abaddon the master of Insignia yes?" Erza demanded with a stern face.

"It seems you've brought guests Hero. Titania, it is truly an honour." Abaddon said sarcastically. "Don't worry Hero, these Dark mages will be defeated soon. Funny, I expected more than three of you, and a cat to make it this far, I guess I overestimated your abilities."

"Oh I wouldn't be so sure." Erza said smiling. All of a sudden there was an ear piercing screech as if something was descending on the guildhall. Every mage looked directly up, two streaks of light were plummeting to their position one gold, one green. Their impact with the ground caused an enormous explosion kicking up incredible amounts of dust. It settled to reveal Link and Jellal both in combat positions glaring up at the enemy.

"So the two sides of the chess board are set but unfortunately we are not done, Hero get inside I need you to defend the gate." Abaddon ordered. Hero nodded and headed into the keep.

"Jellal, where's Meredy and the others?" Erza asked.

"They're safe, they just haven't made it yet." Jellal called back. "You need to know that woman, she's a necromancer."

"What? I thought necromancy had been eradicated." Gray said shocked.

Abaddon began to laugh, "You cannot eradicate magic, someone is going to find a lost tome somewhere. Anyway, yes I am a necromancer and you are just about to find out just how strong a necromancer I Am." Abaddon called slamming the Staff of Insurrection into the ground. Instantly the sky went purple even the angel seemed shocked and fearful. Link looked at the angel, this was the girl Roran had been talking about, Cryse. Link knew she was being manipulated and hoped that in the upcoming battle he could save her and Hero just as Roran asked.

Swirling clouds began to cover the town spiralling into the eye of a cyclone positioned just above the guildhall. The five Fairy Tail mages grimaced at the feeling of such dark magic.

"Zeref's Insurrection magic, and my necromancy, what a fantastic union of magic, I've always wondered, but now. Now we find out what happens. This is going to be so much fun." Abaddon said with glee. Cryse looked down on the mages with heavy sorrowful eyes, as long as she was here she was safe, Hero was safe.

"Everyone be prepared for anything." Erza cautioned she stared at abbadon frowning at the crazed look in her eyes.

"Let the dead walk and the spirits float, let life be purged and death be risen, let the insurrection begin." Abaddon yelled. A black lightning bolt descended from the heavens striking the staff. Immediately there was a strong tremor that threw everyone off balance. Link and Jellal turned back to back as they saw grotesque rotten hands burst out the ground. Slowly horrid undead monsters rose from the ground most missing certain important features like limbs or skin some even lacked flesh altogether they were simply armed skeletons walked with only dark magic holding them together.

"They're everywhere." Happy cried fear tinging his voice. Everyone frowned as they saw spirits rise above the rooftops all over the town.

The mages glared up at the Insignia guild master who stood their laughing sadistically as she saw her handiwork.

"Oh, your faces are priceless, and you don't even know the best thing, these clouds they are going to continue spreading soon it won't just be Nagamasa under the effect very soon the whole of Fiore, no the whole of the world is going to fall under my insurrection!"

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**So there you have it, next week the foght against the insurrection begins,. Can our heroes come out on top? Or will the insurrection take over the whole world?**

**Side chapter - The Art of Bug Catching**

**This weeks side chapter was suggested by ultima-owner so i hope you enjoy it as much as i enjoyed writing it. It took a while for me to decide how to do it but inam happy with the final result. **

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Stealth was the key, Link eyed his target, the tiniest of ladybirds perched on the bark of a tree. One wrong move and it would all be over. Link stayed close to the ground allowing his armour to camouflage him into the long grass around him he held a large blue net at the ready above his head. He had to reach optimal position before he struck, too soon or too late and the bug would escape. After a final step he felt ready, his muscles tensed and prepared to recoil like a spring in order to catch his prey. This was it, he breathed out. Three… Two…o-...

"Hey! Link look what I found!" Erza yelled in an uncharacteristically childish voice. The surprise caused Link to swing the neck and strike the tree no where near where the ladybird was. Link heard the disappointing buzz signalling his failure as the ladybird flew away. With a sigh he turned to face Erza, she was in her 'bug catching armour' which consisted of large bug chitin plates that covered her body like normal layered armour as well as an enormous bee keeper hat. Link had to admit that she looked totally ridiculous but wouldn't say anything as her face told him he was having the time of her life. Link had no idea such a menial quest was bringing her so much joy.

"Alright Erza what did you find?" Link said getting up from his hiding place.

Erza walked up to him and proudly presented her catch. In her outstretched hands lay an enormous purple and orange slug that sat lazily in her hands not moving more than a millimetre a second. Internally Link cried for his friend, apparently she had never been bug catching before not even as a kid so she had no idea what the basics were and therefore absolutely sucked at it. Already she had attempted to catch, a cicada, a shield bug, a moth, a butterfly, a stag beetle, a pill bug, another cicada and many others, all of them resulting in utter failure. The issue was Erza had no idea what the word stealth meant, her armour was heavy and noisy making approaching the bugs incredibly hard. Then if she managed the approach she would always yell as she swung the net giving the bug more than enough time to escape. Link looked at the slug again it was grotesque and wouldn't be accepted by the person who sent out the job (professor Harvey a woman obsessed with anything smaller than a mouse) as she was looking for rarer bugs than your plain purple slug. Still this was Erza's first catch so Link smiled sticking a thumb up and saying. "Good job Erz, you're a natural." Of course it really was a testament to Erza's abilities that the only thing she could catch was a slug but Link left that part out.

Erza happily opened a jar for the slug to reside in and tried to get it in but somehow the bug was stuck to her hand. She tried to scrape it in, to coax it in with honey, her attempts becoming slowly more and more desperate.

"It seems to have taken a liking to you." Link joked. Now Erza was flailing her hand in order to get the slug off and into the jar. Link could see the poor creature clinging on for dear life but the creature was quickly overwhelmed by Erza's monstrous strength and was launched into the air, over the field they were in and into the forest beyond. Erza face dropped in shock and tears began to fill her eyes.

"Sammy!" She called as she chased after her flying slug desperate to save it.

"Of course she named it," Link sighed watching her go. _Still with her occupied I can find this giant bug the professor was talking about. _Link thought looking over the job request, she said it would be around here and if we cause enough of a disturbance as Erza obviously had, it should appear soon.

Little did Link know that a pair of compound eyes were staring at him camouflaged from within the undergrowth. Link turned his attention to large orange butterfly that had appeared nearby and began stalking the new bug. Only the light breeze moved the long grass around Link. The air was silent and the butterfly had just landed on a golden flower ahead of him. Being careful not to make a sound Link took a single step closer. He was once again ready. He raised his net once again ready to pounce on the unsuspecting bug when he heard a single twig snap behind him. All of a sudden Link glimpsed a scythe flying at him with lightning speed. Link dropped and rolled out of the way avoiding it by a hairs breadth and scaring the butterfly away. Link turned to face what ever had attacked him and was faced with a huge bug almost the size of him. It had large white compound eyes and was covered in a thick green exoskeleton. From it's abdomen came four legs which it stood on with another two legs coming from his thorax that were shaped into harsh scythe like blades. The bug spun round cutting the grass around them viciously. Link pulled his sword out and readied his net. **(The bug looks kinda like a human sized praying Mantis with much thicker armour.)**

"So you finally came out huh?" In response the bug clicked angrily and ran forward to attack. Link managed to dodge but was surprised at the speed of the creature it's attacks were precise and fast and those scythes looked deadly but Link was not deterred. He quickly ducked under a scythe and rolled so he was behind the bug he then jumped over it's abdomen and attempted to slash at it. The sword hit it with a dull 'thunk' and bounced harmlessly off. Link cursed not only was it fast and strong but it was also very well protected. A well placed stab between the plates of exoskeleton should work but Link was told to bring the specimen back alive or not at all. The bug slowly turned round which Link discovered was another obvious weakness it had bad turning ability. Link then finally formulated a plan. He sheathed his sword and drew his shield, shifting his net into his dominant hand. He then began to run circles around the insect. It started to follow him turning also and swiping at opportune moments. But Link was now avoiding or defending the strikes and the insect could bot keep up with Link. So eventually stood still waiting for Link's return to his front. It never came. The bug realised to late as it looked up to see Link falling on her from the sky, Link shield bashed the face of the bug on his descent knocking it to the ground before whacking the top of it's head with the butt of the net.

The huge insect fell unceremoniously to the ground in an unconscious heap. Link was elated at his victory and scooped the huge bug in his net which expanded magically to fit it in safely. He then slung the net over his shoulder and turned to the direction Erza had left. He noticed her walking back towards him with her armour ruined her face scratched and her hair covered in twigs and mud.

"What on earth happened?" Link asked looking shocked at the red headed mage.

"I got it." She simply gasped in exhaustion holding out a jar with a purple slug inside now looking incredibly smug.

"The great Erza Scarlett brought down to this sorry state by a single slug." Link laughed. Erza swiftly bashed him over the head.

"well let's get these guys back to the professor shall we." Link said with a pained smile. Erza momentarily returned the smile before she decided it was to exhausting.

(…)

"No way! The legendary fluorescent bloodsucking dragon slug, I've only heard about these, I never thought I'd get the chance to meet one in real life, how're you doing little buddy did you play nice with the mages." The ugly purple slug looked at the professor and nodded with an evil grin. "Oh he understands me this is brilliant, the fact that you managed to catch one of these is incredible, no wonder they call you titania I shall have to double no triple your pay." Professor Harvey exclaimed.

"Your too kind really, this guy was no trouble, by the way I named him Sammy." Erza announced.

"Ooh good name, it's nice to meet you Sammy you can call me Kylie." The professor addressed the slug.

"So what about mine is he a good catch or what? I call him scythy" Link boasted trying not to be outdone by a slug.

"Oh that, just stick it with the others, by the way that name is so unoriginal I'm tempted to just halve your pay right now."

"What?" Link said before he sighed in defeat. With a clenched fist and eyes filled with confidence he swore he would never be outdone in bug catching again, if there was anything he could take pride in it was his ability to catch the rarest of bugs. He eyed Erza as the pair fawned over the slug. "Next time, next time I will come out on top just you wait." Link swore.


	32. The Insurrection

**Chapter 32 - The Insurrection**

**So abbadon has used her Necromancy along with Zeref's insurrection magic to produce an undead army across the town of Nagamasa and now it is up to Fairy Tail and Crime Sorciere to stop it before it gets any worse. **

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Rage covered Natsu's face making him almost unrecognisable. "Happy, let's go teach this bitch a lesson!" He yelled staring straight into Abaddon's red eyes.

"Aye!" Happy grabbed on to Natsu's back and pulled him into the air at mach speeds. Abaddon was getting a lift from the angel, Cryse, onto the tallest tower of the keep but Natsu was closely following. Immediately after dropping Abaddon off, Cryse turned to face Natsu. "I'm afraid you're going no further Salamander." The angel said.

"Says who, Fire dragon iron…" Natsu was violently interrupted as the angel flew at him viciously kicking him in the crook of the neck, blasting both him and Happy to the floor. As this happened Natsu saw a golden flash run up the side of the building.

"Damn, Jellal's going to beat me to the punch." He gasped as he landed on the floor with a crash. Happy landed not too far away from him. Natsu quickly looked around, he was surrounded by the undead, he watched as Link and Erza tore through them like training dolls and Gray was firing his ice magic wherever he could find a target.

"Gray," Erza called, "Give us some room, Natsu, were going to blow a hole in this sucker." Erza yelled pointing her sword at the castle.

"Perfect, did I ever tell you?... destruction is my middle name." Natsu yelled punching a skeleton in the face." Natsu ran over to join them the three of them back to back in a circle.

"Gray do it now!" Link called.

"Right! Ice make, Wall!" Gray bellowed, huge crystals of ice erupted from the ground surrounding the four mages and the drawbridge.

"Let's do this, Fire Dragon Roar!" Natsu bellowed joining his dragon slayer magic with Link and Erza's respective Din's fire. The vortex of fire exploded on impact shattering the closed drawbridge completely.

"Good job, Natsu, Gray we need you to handle things out here defend the townspeople, me and Link are going in!" Erza called.

"Humph, you guys steal all the fun." Gray called back releasing his wall and letting the undead in.

"I'm cool with that, I've got beef with that overgrown pigeon up there!" Natsu yelled angrily. "Happy, let's go!" Happy swooped down and picked Natsu up to challenge the angel one again.

"Link, let's go!" Link nodded before using his whip to clear the moat carrying Erza with him in his arms.

Gray turned to face the horde of monsters there had to be two dozen in the general area with many more beyond, it was going to take a lot to pull this off especially single handedly

"Well then let's get this party started! Ice make Floor!" Gray yelled flash freezing the ground and any feet on it. With a smirk he began his next incantation, "Ice blade…" ice erupted from his elbows creating cruel cold blades, "Ice make, Ice duel swords…" Two one handed swords appeared in his hands, he was now walking menacingly towards the unwary undead. "Dance of the Ice Warrior!" he almost whispered the incantation to his secret move as he collided with the undead tearing the monsters apart, his expert swordsman ship complimented by his exemplary ice skating skills made him an unstoppable tornado of ice and snow tearing through anything foolish enough to get in the way. Once he had torn through all the undead in the area he dispelled all of his magic breathing heavily. He looked up into the sky as flashes of white and orange collided with each other.

"Tch, at least Natsu's having a hard time." He said before running to find more of the undead hoping to get to them before they got to the townspeople.

Gray ran through the streets destroying the skeletons and zombies in his way. Numerous times he had reached families only just on time. After saving them he instructed them to leave the city as fast as possible, he would then run off to find some other family. The truth was Gray was struggling the city was large and he was hardly covering any of it. What was worse was more and more undead abominations were rising from the ground. It wasn't long before he was surrounded. He cursed and placed his hands at the ready, he shot them into the sky yelling, "Ice Make Lance." Producing a shot of ice that soared into the sky above him then separated into thousands of smaller missiles that rained destruction on the skeletons and their surroundings. Gray then went on to cut as many others down as he could. There was a savage screech and Gray turned to see some a new disgusting undead creature run at him with a huge Cleaver. It screeched again forcing Gray to cover his ears but that was when the monster brought his sword down. Gray had no time to defend and was paralysed by the screeched, he braced himself for the impact but a dull squelch came instead. Gray looked up to see the undead had been impaled by a huge rock. He looked up at the rooftops and stood there were the four people he most wanted to see… And another guy?

Lucy, Wendy, Meredy and Carla jumped of the roof and ran to Gray, the new guy followed.

"Gray what's going on here?" Meredy said her clothes were torn and she was definitely injured but her face told him she wasn't going to back down from this fight.

"Abaddon has triggered the insurrection, there are undead all over the city which is still full of civilians we need to evacuate them and take down as many of these bastards as possible." To make his point he fired an ice spike at a nearby skeleton smashing it to pieces. "Who's this?" Gray asked nodding at Roran, the newcomer.

"This is Roran, he's here to help us." Lucy exclaimed.

"He's insignia." Gray said with hostility seeing Roran's guild-mark on his chest.

"Yes but I'm no longer Abaddon's, I fought Link, I'm confident he will end this. For now I need to know, where are Hero and Cryse I have to get them to safety?" Roran asked almost desperately.

"I assume you mean the angel, she's fighting Natsu over there, Hero is inside the guildhall probably fighting Link and Erza."

"Good, Hero's fine then. Once I've got this out of the way I will be back and will help you evacuate the city." Roran yelled running off.

"Gray, your injured." Wendy gasped worriedly. She was right he had received a slash from a skeleton's sword a while back he had managed to quell the blood by freezing it but it was limiting his mobility. "Let me heal it."

Gray nodded smashing the ice on his arm and Wendy set to work. "Okay so we have to evacuate the city then?" Meredy asked.

"Yes and get it done as soon as possible, I don't think there have been casualties yet but this is some dark magic and these monsters are getting stronger."

"It's just like my vision. He's on his way." Carla whispered looking up at the swirling clouds and the eerie towers, fear creeping into her heart.

Meredy frowned, "right Lucy you take the east section of the city, Wendy, Carla you go west, I'll go north and Gray you take the south. You priority is the defence of the citizens but take as many of the undead down as you can."

"Rodger!" All of them said at once before heading in there various directions. Gray was left alone, he stood up and flexed his arm turning to face a new Zombie.

"The last days of winter huh? I guess I can let out my real power." He grunted his dark eyes flashed silver.

(…)

The inside of the guildhall was incredibly dark, torches lit the walls but seemed to have no effect on the surroundings. Link's keen eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness and spotted the staircase. He grabbed Erza's arm and pulled her along with him. They soon reached the second floor which was almost completely empty. The room was enormous with incredibly high ceilings and huge arched windows, in the centre of the room was the young boy who had hypnotised them several days ago, Hero.

"Erza, I think its best I handle this, head up and give Jellal a hand, no doubt the guild master easily has the strength to match Makarov, I'll be up as soon as I can."

"Right, stay safe." Erza said before running up to the next flight of stairs."

Link drew the Master Sword and shield.

"Wow, you're going to draw your sword on a young boy, how dark." The boy said. Despite the gloomy lighting Link could vividly see Hero's striking blue eyes.

"You know Hero, we don't have to do this." Link said.

The boy laughed, "Of course you would say that, villains always run from justice."

"No, people always show compassion for those who have lost their way."

"It is not I who has lost my way, anyone who follows the dark path has, and for turning from the light deserve to be destroyed." The boy said menacingly. His heart began to glow in his chest Link watched as the veins lit up all over his body.

"Sanguinem Ictus!" He called immediately red spikes flew out of his body towards Link similar in effect to Gray's lances, Link began to run around the boy dodging the spikes as they made impact with the ground. Link used his shield to defend against the spikes heading straight for him and looked shocked as it turned to liquid on his shield. Looking at the boy he realised what it was, blood. This kid was using his own blood as a form of attack. Link came to a halt when the spikes stopped, the blood returned to Hero and orbited him in numerous sickly rings. Link could see the boy puppeting the blood his eyes glowing furiously. To have mastered such dark magic, this kid was some kind of prodigy. Link realised he had to do something. Somehow he had to incapacitate the kid but of course if he was incapacitated while his blood was outside his body then maybe the boy would not survive.

Quickly, Link decided to run at the boy slicing through the barrage of blood in his path. Hero watched the man with furious feral eyes run up to him, his sword glowed bright blue as he cleaved through the attacks Hero sent at him. This man was no mere mage Hero could tell. His eyes told of experience, of pain, of courage. They were not the eyes of an evil doer they were the eyes of a hero.

Hero's attacks were deemed futile when the mage arrived only a foot away from the boy, his sword raised. Before the warrior could bring it down he halted. Hero smiled, he was wrong this man was no hero, this man was weak, too weak to kill a young boy. With a shift of his hand blood, scattered across the room, flew towards him. The warrior could feel this, he turned and held up his shield in defence. The blood collided with the shield turning back to liquid due to the magical dispelling properties of the shield. That was when hero knew he had won.

"Sanguinem Assimilare!" He ordered preparing for one of his strongest spells, Link gasped as he watched the blood on his shield begin to move, it slid over the shield and onto his hand covering his hand in a thin layer of blood. Link tried to drop the shield but found that he couldn't. The blood quickly moved up Link's arm turning his white undershirt red. Link had no idea what to do, in that moment of weakness Hero picked up all the blood in the room and swamped Link in it raising him in an orb of the red liquid. Link felt like he was drowning, dark memories flashed into his mind, the situation felt synonymous with the horrifying nightmares he'd had and it scared the wielder of courage beyond belief.

"Now. You belong to me Mage of Fairy Tail." Hero called watching as Link stopped struggling. "You should have killed me when you had the chance. Sanguinem Mortus." Hero said with a cruel tone.

(…)

Natsu and Happy soared up the side of the castle, and met the angel again in mid-air.

"Happy, let's get this oversized bird!" Natsu yelled.

"Aye!" Happy agreed flying towards Cryse.

"For Hero," the angel said sadly, flying up to perform a nose dive at the fire mage thrusting a fist coated in white light ahead of her. Happy quickly dodged the attack letting the angel sail past them.

"Fire Dragon's Roar!" He yelled as fire erupted from his mouth. Cryse expanded her wings balancing her out into a glide over the rooftops of the town. With a wing beat she rose on level with Natsu shouting. "Feather Dance!" with another wing beat glowing white feathers fell from her wings and were launched towards Natsu.

"Happy separate!" Happy obliged dropping the heavy dragon slayer and flying up himself. The feathers flew past them and collided with the wall behind them piercing the wall like butter. Happy then fell into a nose dive managing to catch Natsu just before he hit the floor.

"Phew close one Happy!"

Happy rose to meet the angel as Natsu prepared his next attack. "Fire Dragon Wing Attack." Natsu yelled, his arms extending into long fiery whips which flew towards the angel striking her in the chest. "Fire dragon sword edge!" The impact sent Cryse flying into a nearby building and Natsu whooped in victory until he looked at the wreckage. Cryse looked up at Natsu from where she had fallen her body was glowing white and unscathed. Natsu and Happy stood shocked they'd thought they would have done at least a little damage. Cryse raised her magnificent wings around her and thrust herself at Natsu with awesome speed, in a swift acrobatic move she spun round in mid-air her glowing shin colliding with the dragon slayers face throwing him into the wall of the guildhall. Natsu sat there trembling in pain, Happy wasn't fairing much better trapped behind Natsu. Natsu used his nails to grip onto the wall he caught Happy's small unconscious frame in his free arm cradling his best friend. He could feel fire growing in his belly as his furious eyes turned towards Cryse. But, the immediate second Natsu saw the angel was the second his fighting face changed as he saw the angel's face. Glittering tears fell from the cheeks of the stunning angel, Natsu gasped at the beauty of the angel her face reminding him only of Lucy in all of her times of desperation, every time she had cried. Immediately Natsu's drive to fight this woman was put out, the fire in his belly fading into a mere candle flame.

"Hey, what's the matter? Why are you crying like that?" he asked unable to comprehend what else to do. At his voice Cryse turned to face the dragon slayer her watery eyes wide in surprise at the concern her enemy was showing.

"I'm sorry, how unprofessional of me." She said wiping her eyes, "I should finish you quickly."

"Hey, wait a minute!" Natsu said, the Angel ignored the dragon slayer, raising her arms to the dark sky.

"Holy Lance!" she called out, Natsu's head turned to the sky, small patches of the clouds began to light up gold. Natsu could feel a huge amount of magic power and there was no doubt that it was headed his way.

"Happy, you're going to have to wake up buddy!" He shook the exceed watching the light intensify in fear, this attack felt almost as strong as something Gildarts could conjure.

(…)

The blood orb stopped moving and Hero knew he had defeated Link. He held the suspended blood in the air harshly out of breath from his overuse of magic and lack of bodily blood. He was about to relax when he saw something glow inside the orb, a light was escaping the orb Hero squinted and saw three purple triangles no bigger than a person's hand glow with blinding intensity. All of a sudden the blood orb began to move again Hero felt an overwhelming resistance to his magic and tried to put a stop to it. His attempts were futile and the blood simply fell to the floor leaving Link almost untouched hovering above the ground surrounded in a blue crystal. The crystal smashed and Link landed on the floor sheathing his sword. His triforce glowing strongly on his hand.

"You know I fought Roran earlier today." Link said. "I understand now what he was fighting for."

Hero looked at him with harsh eyes absorbing the blood back into his body and preparing for a new attack.

"You and that angel outside are his entire world, he really wants what's best for you and that's why he explained to me what was really going on here. He told me this used to be a normal guild with happy people going about their daily lives a place very similar to our Fairy Tail, this was all before you arrived and Abaddon took over. Abaddon has been using you all these years, teaching you false truths as to how the world works. What she is doing now is not heroic Hero, it is the darkest evil you can imagine." Link pulled a bomb out of his pocket and threw it at the wall, the explosion destroying the wall and exposing them to the outside world. "The fact is you know it's true, look outside Hero." Link said. "Look at what Abaddon has brought upon the world, there is only destruction. People are going to die if we don't do anything about it."

"It can't be helped they are all sinners who deserve only death."

"No," Link said sternly "They are normal people, people with goals and dreams. People who love those that surround them, people who are living their lives the best way they can. It is and always has been a hero's role to save everyone, no matter how evil they are. Do you understand? What Abaddon is doing will not save the world it will only destroy it." Link was shouting.

Hero's eyes turned to the sky he saw Cryse up in the sky fighting, if Link was telling the truth then why was she fighting? then Hero saw, she saw a tiny ray of light fall from her face. "Tears." He realised. They continued falling every drop striking Hero's heart like a needle. Why was Cryse crying? Cryse looked down at Hero and made eye contact, in that instant Hero understood everything, his heart broke as she watched her raise her hands to the sky. Golden light began to flicker behind the purple clouds, he could tell she was about to use her Holy Lance.

Suddenly a streak of fire flew up towards one of the nearby towers in the town Hero watched in awe as a man with pink hair looked up courageously at the oncoming storm. It was going to kill him. Hero fell to his knees his eyes watering there was no way, _is Cryse about to kill for the sake of protecting me? _Hero watched fire surround the dragon slayer, he intended to take it head on but Hero knew he didn't stand a chance..

A warm hand fell on Hero's shoulder and Hero looked up to face Link. Link looked back his eyes honest and resolute.

"It's time to prove yourself Hero, use my blood it will help." Hero clenched his fist and stood up.

"Cryse, stop please!" he yelled at the top of his lungs, Cryse flinched but the attack continued. Hero cursed, immediately blood flew out of his body flying up above the angel. The light in the sky climaxed and streaks of golden light began to rain down on the dragon slayer. Hero's blood spread itself in an enormous dome around the dragon slayer, fire hit one side as light rained down on the other. The blood disappeared destroying both spells. After watching the blood disappear Cryse turned to face Hero watching as he fell weakly into a stranger's arms. In an instant she had soared over bending down at the boy's side, tears now coming down in floods.

"Hero you idiot, what have I told you about overusing your powers." She cried. Hero weakly raised his hand to Cryse's face wiping a tear away.

"It's okay," Hero raised his arm, Link did too a stream of blood was running from Link's arm to his. "I'm going to be fine, we have the same blood type." Link was beginning to look pale but grinned.

"Jeez Hero!" she cried pulling him into her arms. "You just had to go and play a hero didn't you." Hero grinned widely.

"Cryse, I understand what's going on now we have to stop Abaddon now." Cryse frowned.

"But if we do who knows what will happen to you?"

"That's why I'm going, you two need to help Gray and Natsu in the town, get everyone to safety as quickly as possible, don't worry two of our strongest mages are already up there I'm sure with my help they can overcome Abaddon." Link said.

"I don't know Abaddon is incredibly powerful and with that staff she seems unstoppable." Cryse complained.

"Cryse!" A voice boomed from below. Cryse's eyes widened and she looked down to see Roran he threw himself up the side of the castle using a rock pillar and landed next to cryse.

She instantly tackled him with a hug and tears of happiness came from her eyes. "Roran! Your alright."

"Aye, and it's thanks to him." he said pointing at Link. "Don't worry, we can do it, let's end this."

"Even the strongest beings have a weakness." Link said with a grin. "Your guild leader is no different, don't worry we are going to get through this." Link said. Cutting off the blood supply.

Hero looked at the warrior's eyes pondering his words. "Link, this may be totally unimportant but I think Abaddon might have a weakness."

Link and Cryse looked at him shocked, "What is it?" They asked, Roran smiled knowingly.

"It's not with her I found it accidentally when exploring the catacombs of the town. Abaddon found me and told me to forget about it. I think it might be important."

"Can you take me there Hero?" Link asked, the boy nodded lifting himself up. Link supported him as he stood, shaking as he did.

"Hero are you sure you can do this?" Cryse asked. Hero looked directly into her eyes, they were still pained, red and puffy from crying they were eyes filled with worry. Although by blood they were not related but Cryse had always loved the young boy, she loved the boy like a son. With a smile Hero fell into the angel's arms much to her joy and surprise.

"Don't worry, I'll be back, then you me and Roran, we can all go find somewhere new, somewhere we belong, all together."

Cryse returned the hug her tears running into the boys sandy hair. "I'd like that." They held each other for a good moment before they became aware of Link who was awkwardly watching the scene. Cryse picked Hero up onto his two feet, he was unsteady due to blood loss as was Link but the pair managed to lean on each other to stay standing.

"Stay safe Hero, don't do anything out of your league." Cryse said, Hero grinned cheekily.

"When have I ever?" He said causing roran to chuckle.

"Take care of him Link." Cryse ordered scarily, Link realised it was more of a threat than an order. Despite this Link smiled and bowed. After a moments more of silence, cryse turned to the hole in the wall of the castle spreading her magnificent wings.

"You really have grown into a true Hero." Cryse looked at Roran briefly then jumped out of the building and glided over the houses her new task to protect and evacuate the townspeople.

"I'm gonna join her, thank you Link." Roran said before launching himself in the direction Cryse was flying.

Link saw Natsu a top of a tower and nodded in his direction, Natsu grinned and returned the gesture before recklessly nosediving off the tower into the town to help Gray.

"So where's this secret then?" Link said smiling down at Hero.

"This way." Hero released Link and using the wall to hold himself, up headed towards the source of Abaddon's power.

* * *

**So there you go the first half of the climax. I hope i managed to do Hero's realisation well enough characters like him are always the hardest to write so please leave a review to tell me what you thought of the chapter and fave and follow for more. **

**Next time: can Jellal and Erza face down Abbadon? Will Link and Hero reach Abaddon's weakness on time? And can the members of Fairy Tail stop the insurrection.**

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**Fi's day out**

**So this was a requested side chapter so i hope i did it justice. In anime and cartoons the hot springs episode has become a bit of an overused trope and an excuse to get your characters naked. But in fairness i have jsed this trope before myself so i cant really talk bit this time i chose a different kind of womens day out. And of course Fi who is in the middle of struggling with all kinds of new sensations and situations is also invited. **

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Link sat in the guildhall feeling far more naked than normal. The feeling was not due to him actually being naked but due to a noticeable lack of weight on his back. Link simply felt empty as the master sword was absent from his back. He looked towards the guildhall doors. Hoping that Fi was going to be okay.

"A girl's day out huh? I wonder what that means." He sighed.

(…)

Fi, for the millionth time since she had been reawakened, was feeling something she once again could not comprehend, she could feel a void in her stomach that made her want to curl up into a ball, an insecurity. What was worse was her closest friend and companion, Link, was not around to give her aid. Often, in times like this, it was her turn to look to Link for advice and support rather than the usual other way round. Fi, with Link's help, had recently come to the conclusion that she was developing feelings. They were a similar sensation to touching, seeing and hearing but they were internal and affected her in different ways. She had managed to put names to certain feelings, the first she felt was happiness as well as sadness soon after Link had defeated demise. Link had called the moment they parted bittersweet which inexplicably made a lot of sense to Fi. The next emotion was again happiness but on a much more profound level. The feeling seemed to correlate to how Link felt upon seeing Zelda at the Earth Temple before he was shot down by Impa the sheikah woman she felt this upon reawakening and seeing Link again. The fourth emotion Link had called jealousy, it was similar to anger but more secretive, It made Fi competitive, as if she had to win against her rival at all costs. It made her appalled at Link for choosing such an companion, sadness would fill her when ever she came up with the possibility that Link was using the woman as a replacement, a replacement for his most trusted and first companion.

The person Fi was referring to in her mind was walking precisely 2 metres in front of her, she wore armour with minimal magical properties and had red hair reaching halfway down her back. The data Fi had collected told that her name was Erza Scarlet, a requipping mage who had exceeded the boundaries of requipping. There was no doubt the woman's magic container was huge definitely equal if not larger than Link's. But what frustrated Fi most was the woman's interactions with her Master. She was far too friendly with him they seemed to go on every adventure together, their interactions often caused an increased release of hormones, increased heart rate as well as a significant temperature rise. Although it never seemed to effect his combat potential, Fi was concerned for her master. What was worse was the fact that the Master Sword, Fi's vessel, was strapped to her back. For an incomprehensible reason, Link had seen fit to trust Erza with the holy blade. Of course Erza wouldn't be able to remove it from the scabbard and wield it but the fact that she was entrusted with it appalled her.

She noticed her 'jealousy' was clouding her internal processes, so Fi looked around to ease her mind. She was surrounded by the ladies of Fairy Tail, many of them had come on this 'girl's day out' and surprisingly they had invited Fi along. At first Fi declined explaining the technicalities of the Master sword and attempting to stay with Link, but even Link turned against her and forced her to go on the trip saying "it will be good for you, trust me."

The women around her were talking merrily about menial topics that had never concerned Fi, such as Money, Jobs and Love. So far she had stayed silent unused to human contact on such a level. Again she felt the empty pit in her stomach, she felt uncomfortable being with so many people at once.

It was soon she heard a small but sweet voice coming from below where she was hovering.

"So… you've known, Link for a long time?" Fi looked down and the voice had originated from Wendy, a sky dragon slayer recently turned 13. After a moment she answered.

"I was Link's companion in his first quest, the spirit in the blade who's mission from the goddess Hylia, was to serve Link in anyway I could during his quest to rid the land of evil." Fi said.

"Oooh so you knew Link before you came to Fairy Tail." Evergreen said interested.

"Your assumption is correct." Fi said monotonously.

"Then you must know some of his deepest secrets right?" Evergreen continued.

"I have surmounted a lot of data of Link. So yes, I may know things you don't."

"Really? So where is he really from he's not really three thousand years old is he?" Lucy asked.

"I can confirm that is false, Link is 19 years of age but the false assumption he is older is easy to make due to his time jump of 3000 years."

"So it's true then," Carla gasped.

"Carla, that's rude did you not believe his stories." Wendy said.

"Well they were difficult to believe, I have seen him in action so I don't doubt that he could perform such feats but I assumed a lot of it was embellished." Carla defended.

"I assure you everything Master Link has told you is true, he rarely needlessly lies."

"So he did go on a quest three thousand years ago? Why?" Evergreen asked.

"It was his destiny, Link was called by the great goddess Hylia to rid the land of Darkness. But he did have his own personal reasons for the quest."

"Ooo, this sounds like gossip, What personal reasons?"

"I should warn I can sense something approaching." Erza interrupted quickly, she had an idea of Link's original motives and preferred that they would not be revealed.

"I can sense it too, it is large body made primarily of metal and will make contact in precisely 10 seconds."

"This is what we are looking for ladies, prepare yourselves." Erza ordered. The ladies of fairy tail braced for what was coming. Cards appeared between Cana's fingers, Lucy summoned Virgo, Bisca drew her guns. Exactly when fi had said it would appear it did so. A huge metal monster erupted from the ground. It seemed to be some kind of huge machine, pipes were covering it expelling steam and smoke and the women could see pistons pumping keeping the machine working. It seemed to take the form of a stunted humanoid with a large drill capping one arm.

"All right ladies let's get to work." Magic was launched at the tin can but bounced off without effect. Erza and Demon Mira relentlessly tore at the machine whilst virgo attempted to undermine it. All their attempts were futile.

"It has a magic shield up we cant get through." Wendy shouted. Suddenly a pipe came loose and was launched towards her. Erza intercepted it on time but a numerous more followed and the mages now had even more problems to handle. Fi stood in the support keeping an eye on the battle. She quickly calculated that at the rate they were going they were going to be defeated and the job failed. She looked at the machine and calculated it's strengths and weaknesses hoping her time with Link would aid her. The bot's main strength was the defensive mana shield surrounding the iron giant and after that there was at least three inches of iron plating. This machine was designed to tank and was very similar to the automaton from the ancient cistern, Koloktos. The issue was getting through the magic barrier, non of the mages had the ability to negate magic although the Master sword did. Erza seemed to realise this and looked at Fi.

"Fi try to attack it!" Erza shouted. Fi looked at the robot and another new emotion rose in her stomach similar to her earlier emotion but far more potent. Fi knew what it was… Fear. She had never felt it before because in every situation she had been in Link had carried her through, his courage made her feel confident and safe. Now he was no longer here and could not use her to fight she had no idea what to do. She looked at Erza with a pained look in her usual emotionless face.

"You can do it, be courageous. Be courageous like Link."

The words flowed through Fi like poetry and struck her precisely in the right place. Something began to surge inside her, it was strong and complex but incredibly simple. It had to be courage.

Fi knew what to do. Gracefully she spread her arms and began to elevate higher into the air. Then she launched herself towards the monster gliding like a ballerina on a single foot. As she approached she pirouetted her arms spread out. She approached the robot like a a spinning top. She prayed for Hylia to grant her strength as her attack made contact. Her arms cut through magic and metal simultaneously tearing through the defence of the machine with equal ease to how the master sword would cut through it. A surge of confidence filled her and she continued her attack. She danced around the behemoth avoiding it's attacks gracefully before cutting into it in various places at close to lightning strike speeds. After destroying a blue glowing core that Fi predicted was supplying the mana shield she returned to Erza's side and nodded.

"Alright girls, this is what we came for! This is our stress relief for the year so make it count, the shields are down, CHARGE!" Erza yelled. The girls responded firing a plethora of magic at the machine bringing it to the floor. "Fi finish this." She said holding out the master sword. Fi nodded and summoned forth her magic energy. The master sword left the scabbard and Fi returned to it once again becoming one with the blade. She rose up and pointed the blade to the sky feeling Hylia's power fill the blade. With a metallic ring the blade shone and soared towards the machine and plunged straight through it's core and out the other side tearing it apart from the inside. The holy light of the master sword shone inside the machine and triggered many internal explosions. With a wheeze the machine fell to the floor now simply a heap of scrap metal. The Master Sword faded and returned to it's scabbard and Fi released herself back into the world.

A young man crawled out of the machine covered in oil and looking totally defeated. The girls of Fairy Tail surrounded the young man all of them wearing scowls.

"By the will of the magic council you are under arrest." Erza commanded. The young man looked up at them briefly before collapsing in defeat, raising his hands so they could be cuffed.

"Yay, we did it!" Mira cheered happily back to normal after her demonic transformation.

"Well It's all thanks to Fi." Evergreen said looking down at her.

"Aye!" shouted most of the girls.

"Well in that case, to our most recent addition to Fairy Tail. To Fi, the Fairy of the Sword." Erza cheered.

If Fi was able too she would have flushed from embarrassment but she just took the praise overwhelmed. All of a sudden she fell to the floor causing the rest of the guild to panic and jump down to where she was.

"Hey, Fi are you okay." Levy asked worried.

Fi ran a self check then announced her conclusion. "I am fine, this form is simply not used to any physical or emotional stress and my life force has fallen below 30%. I simply require time in the Master Sword to recharge so I will depart form this form temporarily."

"You did well today don't push yourself." Erza said kindly surprising Fi who considered her a rival.

"Erza, I can see why the triforce of power chose you to be it's wielder you are a fine and compassionate leader, I can also see why Link feels the way he does about you. Thank you for taking care of him in my place." Fi said before she faded into a small orb and flew lazily into the master sword. Erza was left completely red in the face, she looked around at the girls who all held amused smirks and were trying not to laugh.

"Not a word of this to anyone." Erza said her eyes holding a piercing stare. Everyone instantly straightened up in fear and nodded.

Erza sighed, "Let's head home." She shouldered the Master sword and noticed it felt slightly lighter against her back. "I think she's growing on me." She whispered to herself.


	33. Abaddon vs Jellal and Erza

**Chapter 33 - Abaddon vs. Jellal and Erza**

**So here we are, the final fight of the Staff of Insurrection arc, i'm already working on whats coming next which will not totally be a filler arc and will continue the story. Sorry if there are mlre spelling/grammatical mistakes than normal, i have lost about two days this week so sidnt have the time to fully proof read, especially the side chapter. Even so i hope you enjoy it and that i brought Abaddon across well enough. **

**Please fave, follow and review if you enjoy it, like most authors i do love hearing about my work so please review because they make my day.**

**enjoy!**

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Jellal ran vertically up the side of the main keep, the staff of Insurrection was within his sights. With a swift flip he landed on the top of the tower facing the guild master of Insignia.

"How heartless," Abaddon said pouting. "I heard a nice guild like Fairy Tail would at least attempt to save the poor towns people,"

Jellal laughed, "I'm afraid your mistaken, I am no Fairy Tail mage." He tore of his cape dropping it of the edge of the giant cylindrical tower and revealing his face.

"Siegrain? I heard you died years ago?" Abaddon looked completely shocked.

"I'm afraid I no longer use that name."

"Oh, I see so the rumours were true… Jellal." He nodded. "Hmm, well there is no doubt you're here for this." Abaddon said thrusting the staff of insurrection in front of her, the gem on the top was shining eerily. "It's quite enchanting isn't it, just how I imagined it would be. Still, Do you really think that even with all your power you can face a weapon designed by Zeref himself?"

Jellal shrugged, "This is by no means the first, Grand Chariot!" He shouted growing tired of the conversation. Seven golden magic seals opened in front of him unleashing the fury of starlight on the woman. Abaddon stood her ground and held up her staff, smashing it onto the ground, she summoned a swarm of spirits, they surrounded her like a tornado shrieking and wailing like a hurricane. A simple man would have died of fear seeing the tormented souls surface only to be dragged back into the vortex but Jellal stood fast unleashing his rage. The light struck the spirits destroying them in seconds but in the end the wall of spirits managed to hold Jellal's attack back easily.

"Wonderful, I can feel the power," Abaddon stated admiring the staff with a smirk "It's more than you can even comprehend and you want to destroy it ha! Anyway, sorry to cut this reunion short old friend but it's my turn now!"

Abaddon held the staff above her head, "Ancient souls of darkness hear me, follow the command of the one who summons you do not falter, do not fade, Join the insurrection!" Again black lightning cascaded from the sky striking the black staff with a blinding light. The ground seemed to shiver as Abaddon's undead began to crawl out of the ground but these warriors they weren't ordinary, they wore long black robes with hoods that partially hid their rotting faces a horrid purple aura seemed to surround them emanating dark magic similar to what Jellal could feel was coming from the staff.

"Jellal!" He heard the voice of a woman from the side. Erza was crawling out of a near by hatch onto the roof.

"Erza, what's going on?" He said confused, he didn't expect her to come up here.

"I'm here to help!" She yelled. Suddenly a black orb of magic flew towards Jellal who managed to narrowly avoid it before facing a new unavoidable one. Erza managed to deflect the attack using her adamantine shield just saving Jellal's neck. "You can thank me later," she said with a cocky undertone. Jellal could have laughed right then but could only manage a small smile.

Jellal and Erza stood facing a small battalion of robed individuals, there were eight in total, four held long, silver two handed swords and the others seemed to have control of some kind of dark magic. Abaddon stood above them leaning on the staff smirking triumphantly. Erza requipped into her Heaven's wheel armour and summoned a circle of blades around her. Jellal's body began to glow as he charged himself for an attack.

Initiating the battle Erza shouted. "Dance my blades!" Sending them spinning towards her targets, the four swordsmen merely deflected the blades whilst the four mages jumped into the air avoiding the rest easily. Whilst in the air each summoned a ball of darkness and were about to unleash when Erza's scheme came into play. By becoming centre of attention the eight demons were oblivious to Jellal who was now in the air above them pointing towards the heavens.

"Starlight crown!" A great magic circle opened above him, the centre piece being a five pointed star surrounded by a circle of golden rings. Jellal separated the rings raining them down to attack the mages. The rings spun round flying at incredible speeds tearing into the undead mages cloaks and destroying them before they could unleash their attacks. Erza simultaneously requipped into her black wing armour and launched herself at the swordsmen, with a terrible display of skill she used two, one handed swords to butcher the swordsmen before they could even react sending them back to the hell they had come from.

Abaddon smirked. "As expected, my puppets were no match for you but you forget you are at a severe disadvantage. You forget that I am a necromancer… and the best thing about being one, is that the dead far outnumber the living."

The sky began to rumble and the ground once again began to shiver, the eight spirits rose again accompanied by a whole new host of undead warriors and mages.

"Well, they never said this would be easy." Erza stated. "Requip purgatory armour." Erza's body shone and she donned her purgatory armour and mace. Jellal activated his meteor his eyes beginning to glow a terrifying shade of gold. With an explosion of power the pair began to one by one destroy the undead. The weaved in and out of them attacking any openings they could find to reduce the number they had to face. Erza could feel her purgatory armour working around her, its passive ability increasing her strength with each abomination she destroyed. Jellal was tearing through the undead using his heavenly body magic to increase the speed and power of his attacks. He used everything in his arsenal from simply his fists to small pockets of antigravity which acted like tiny black holes sucking in any projectiles that were chaotically flying around. After a few minutes of solid fighting Jellal and Erza stood back to back totally out of breath. The undead surrounded them in a ring, as the two experienced mages had predicted Abaddon had the ability to re-resurrect them at her will. She stood at the far end of the tower watching as the pair fought the monsters in futility.

"I hate necromancers," Jellal cursed, Erza smiled at his comment.

"Just like old times, you and me against the world."

"Really, is now the best time to reminisce." Jellal said incredulously.

"Better time than any, you know what to do?"

"Let's go." Jellal whispered. "Cover me." Jellal placed his hands together, cupping them as if he were holding a small animal, his face frowned in concentration. Erza could already feel the effect of the spell he was charging and prepared her defensive. On instinct she would have used an attack to hold the hordes back but Link had taught her a better way.

"Naryu's love!" She yelled calling upon the power of her triforce, immediately a blue crystal formed around both her and Jellal blocking the hordes from getting in. Sweat beaded down Erza's forehead as she supplied the mana required to hold the spell. Jellal opened his eyes he was ready and Erza knew it. Erza released hold of the giant crystal and it crumbled into nothing allowing the hordes in.

Both mages connected at that point as they watched the undead run in. Their magic connected and an infinite power began to well up within them. Together they shouted.

"Unison raid, Din's Supernova!" Jellal cast his supernova spell as Erza cast her Din's flame, the result was an enormous explosion of light and fire burning the undead round them to ashes and causing the ground beneath them to crack and crumble.

Erza took her opportunity and ran through the opening they had created summoning a huge broadsword to take down Abaddon. As the light and fire subsided Erza could see her target, Erza got close enough to see the whites of the necromancer's eyes slicing up with a yell. Abaddon sidestepped the attack causing it to miss by a fraction of a millimetre before bringing down the staff of insurrection on Erza's head. With a bolt of pure black magic Erza was blasted into the ground. Jellal looked in shock seeing that despite everything she had summoned and the unison raid the mage was still unscathed allowing her to annihilate Erza with ease.

With a satisfied grin she turned towards Jellal.

"As you can see, you have no choice but surrender to my will, even a defected member of the corrupt magic council can't stop me now." Jellal crouched preparing himself to attack.

In an explosion of motion, Jellal jumped at Abaddon his fists glowing with light. With a flurry of intense punches Jellal attempted to break through the necromancers defence. With a grin Abaddon easily managed to block his attacks using the staff of insurrection, spinning it deftly around as if she had been wielding the weapon her whole life. Seeing her opening she coated her hand in a black aura and punched Jellal in the stomach. Jellal coughed his eyes wide in surprise, he could taste his own blood. A split second later he was launched to the other side of the tower sliding painfully to a halt.

"Well, that was fun." Abaddon said shrugging, soon the two mages caught her attention, they were shaking and beaten but were using all their energy to get up.

"My, my how tenacious. I suppose I should thank you, you've been quite enter…"

"Ah shut up you cow." Jellal spat. Abaddon seemed incredibly offended.

"Siegrain, after all we accomplished, all that time we spent together."

"Didn't I say shut up, I am not Siegrain anymore, the time we spent together meant nothing to siegrain and mean nothing to me you should know that!"

Abaddon paused with a sad expression, Erza could see her eyes beginning to water, "I see, well that is a shame, we did share the best of times together. You were the one who first introduced me to Zeref's magnificent works, you were the one who began my pursuit of the dark arts of necromancy. You were the first one to capture my heart." Hearing this Jellal grimaced and looked between her and Erza. "Besides who could willingly resist being manipulated by a tall handsome stranger such as yourself." Abaddon said this with the sting of sourness in her voice.

"Abaddon… I have spent the last eight years of my life trying to catch up with myself, trying to right the wrongs of my former life. I… I apologise if I deceived you, If I hurt you."

Abaddon looked into the pained eyes of Jellal, she frowned this was no apology this boy had no idea what he had done to her, the pain he had caused her. An apology from a different man meant nothing at all.

"It's far too late for apologies now siegrain, but all this has reminded me why I'm here doing this now. All this, this insurrection, was simply to complete the mission you gave me, to serve the Zeref you taught me about but now it has a new meaning this insurrection is now purely to spite you, you and your apology. So come on then, come on and right the wrong you did in me." Abaddon stood against the dark clouds her arms raised waiting for his attack.

There was moments silence where Jellal and Abaddon stared at each other silently. Abaddon cocked a smiled.

"Oh, where's that dagger you keep on you? Isn't that exactly what you use to right your wrongs. When everything goes to shit you can rely on your trusty black dagger to solve the problems you caused." She said with a sense of malice in her voice. "You haven't changed Siegrain, you are still the same murderous son of a bitch I knew from the start even if you are trying to look like the hero in front of your girlfriend."

Jellal turned to Erza with a pained look in his eyes.

"Erza, I'm sorry for dragging you into this it was not my intention but it appears I am once again wrestling with the ghost of my old self. I would prefer it if you left so you do not see what I truly am."

Erza looked her oldest friend with a frown, slowly it turned into a comforting smile, "You know as well as I that I will not abandon you Jellal. Whatever the battle you are my friend and I do not abandon my friends no matter what they have done, although you walk in shadow you are a good man Jellal please don't forget that, I believe in you."

Jellal's eyes began to water and his heart fluttered as he looked at Erza, this was what he needed. Ignoring his own pain he stood up with confidence to face Abaddon. "You couldn't be more wrong Abaddon, do you know why I love travelling with Fairy Tail? It is because every time I meet them they put me on the right path, this time it was a total stranger that helped me realise my mistakes at first I just scoffed at his ideals deciding they were naïve and foolish. But truth is that somehow that man has far more experience than I do he has wisdom far beyond his years so I am going to trust him and trust my oldest friend." He gestured at Erza. "And I'm going to fix what I have started."

(Meanwhile in the catacombs of Nagamasa)

Link and Hero ran through the dark tunnels underneath Nagamasa. The place stank of mould, human waste and rotting flesh. It seemed that the catacombs underneath the city had been the worst place to come whilst the city was overrun with the undead. During the dragon age almost every city was quickly reduced to rubble, falling victim to the dragon's malice. Nagamasa was no different, like every city in Fiore the city was barely over 400 years old rebuilt over the ruins of the old city. During the time of dragons Link knew small pockets of humanity made a meagre existence underground producing expansive underground cities that were now lost to time. It was therefore down here that the victims of the dragons were buried left to rot in the catacombs of Nagamasa. This of course made the task Link and Hero were set on all the more difficult. Hero had made a good recovery especially after drinking a healing and stamina potion Link gave him. The pair were currently searching through the underground labyrinth in order to find the advantage they needed. Of course being in the ancient burial crypts during the insurrection was probably not the best thing.

The Master Sword glowed in Link's hand, it's light managing to illuminate the path ahead. Fi was already running a scan of the tunnels in hope of finding something of use. More often than not the pair would bump into some undead being but Link was more than experienced fighting monsters such as these and with grace and precision managed to cut down anything in their way. Hope was controlling an orb of blood he had managed to find from an undead corpse, it unsettled Link slightly but there was no doubt that this boy was a prodigy at his magic.

Without warning Fi flew out of the sword. "Master, the scan of the Nagamasa Catacombs has been successfully completed. Although traces of magic can be felt everywhere I have calculated a single place of extreme interest. The type of magic felt correlates closely with illusion and concealment magic. There is a high probability that something is hidden there."

"Thank you Fi, could you lead the way."

"It would be an honour Master Link, Master Hero." Fi bowed politely to the pair of them and flew off ahead of them. Link and Hero followed closely behind.

"Hero do you know what we are looking for?" Link asked hoping for more information.

"Yes it was a large purple crystal, I realised it could be a mega lacroma from which Abaddon is feeding from. With the amount of energy she can fit in it she could easily raise a large amount of insentient dead especially when coupled with whatever that staff really is. When I saw it last, it was empty so I didn't realise what it was until now."

"I see." Link pondered the information in his head before he was rudely interrupted. A rusted sword flew at Hero, Link had no idea how this undead warrior had gotten so close to them but didn't question it as he thrust his sword in order to defend the boy. Link realised half way he would be too slow and wouldn't be able to make it on time until he saw a streak of blue light run through the undead warriors neck. Link looked on in surprise as the zombies head rolled off of it's body which in turn collapsed into a heap on the floor. Behind where the zombie had just stood was Fi floating innocently.

"Wait? Did you do that Fi?" Link questioned shocked.

"Of course, as well as being your personal companion I am a sword as well, I was certain you had sufficient data on this considering your mastery in the use of my vessel." Fi said.

"Woah, wait a minute Fi. was that… sarcasm?"

Fi tilted her head to the side, her face was as blank as an empty page. "I'm afraid I have no data on sarcasm."

Link almost face palmed, "So Fi can you actually tell me what happened?"

"As previously stated I am in fact a sword as well as your personal companion, I have always had potential for combat such as this in case you required it, it was one of the many functions the goddess gave me to help serve you better." Link looked shocked.

"All this time and you've been able to just magically decapitate zombies, why did you not tell me this before? Think of all the scrapes we got into you could have saved me a huge amount of trouble." Fi just stared at him smiling. "Ugh, all this time and your still full of surprises, come on then we must be nearly there by now."

Fi nodded and floated off again, gracefully destroying any undead that crossed her path. Link just watched shocked at the new revelation.

It was not long before the trio arrived at the source of the concealment magic. Sure enough all there was to see was a brick wall, it was solid as well Fi had no data on how to break the enchantment and so returned to the Master Sword.

"Link didn't you have bombs?" Hero asked. Link's face lit up as he reached I to his pouch to pull out one of his many bombs. Since he had been in Earthland they had been slowly depleting, there were no bomb flowers in Earthland but Link had managed to make his own substitute with the aid of a certain crash magician and some other guys from the guild. He now held in his hand a homemade bomb it was black instead of blue but Link knew these bombs had to have at least twice the power of his old ones. Walking back with Hero he lit it and carefully bowled it over to where the magic was. After a short time delay, in which Link and Hero tensed covering their ears, there was a mighty explosion. The shockwave almost knocked them over. Turning back Link watched the dust settle looking at the damage done, sure enough the brick wall was gone and the explosion had revealed some delicate machinery no doubt used to seal the door.

"And that's how we do things at Fairy Tail." Link announced impressed with the damage. Instantly they felt a wave of magic hit them, now the concealing magic had been removed they were fully exposed to the intense magic energy the lacroma was holding. Gripping his sword and shield tighter Link ran into the huge cylindrical room to face the biggest lacroma he had ever seen. Just like Hero had said it was filled with energy and was glowing with a bright violet hue.

"Well then Hero let's get started." Link said eagerly handing the boy one of his new bombs.

(…)

Jellal fought against Abaddon and her undead followers ferociously. Much to his frustration neither he nor Erza had yet to hit the woman, the woman just seemed to have an endless supply of power. Eventually Erza sliced straight through an undead warrior returning him to the ground and the pair simply stopped facing Abaddon their faces screwed up in rage.

"Oh, your faces are just too cute, you really don't know how powerless you are against me do you." Abaddon smiled. "Tell you what, just quit now and I'll kill you quickly and add you to my army, your addition to my forces will be revolutionary."

"Get lost hag!" Erza yelled.

Before conversation continue there was a distant explosion followed by an intense wave of magic energy. Abaddon frowned and looked down on the city.

"Strange, it thought the barrier would hold for longer than that." She said to herself.

Erza saw her chance and ran at Abaddon her blade raised above her head. Erza grinned in victory there was no way she could defend against…. Erza quickly drowned the thoughts as her sword sunk into a grotesque zombie tearing into it's shoulder. Abaddon stood behind it with a scarily confident smirk.

"Come on sweetie, did you really think that would work your attacks are far too easy to predict. Well, it can't be helped you made a mistake now you will have to pay for it." spinning the staff around herself, Abaddon smashed the shaft into Erza's face throwing her unceremoniously to the floor. The zombie fell back into dust and Abaddon walked down to Erza who was immobilised from sheer fatigue. Abaddon knelt next to the fallen mage pulling her up by her hair. Jellal was close to collapse and cursed himself for not being able to do anything as he fell to his knees.

"Well now that the levee has broken, don't you think it's time for the next stage of the insurrection." Erza scowled and spat. Abaddon grinned. "Thought not." With a savage kick Erza was sent flying landing close to Jellal who crawled to her side to see if she was okay. Jellal and Erza met eyes and despite everything Erza smiled before falling unconscious.

"Well, let's get this party started!" Abaddon yelled in triumph as she looked out over the destruction. "The insurrection has but only begun, spirits of the fallen take up your former vessels rise, join us, join your brothers in death, Join the insurrection!" With a sadistic smirk she raised her staff once again black lightning hit it and she smashed the butt into the floor.

* * *

**So the next chapter will conclude this arc! So how will the story end? What horrid twist will i come up with? Will i meet my deadline with exams coming up? (Dont worry i will, i've already written this one) **

**Side chapter: Lucy and Natsu's date.**

**So this is a continuation from the last Nalu side chapter that came out a month ago, i may add to it later but i'm pretty happy with it and i hope you Nalu shippers enjoy it. Just so you know this is set just after Yuletide and Lucy and Natsu have gone on a ski trip together and now Natsu has prepared a date for Lucy and both of them are pretty nervous.**

**Enjoy and please tell me what you think!**

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(Earlier that week)

Natsu sat at the bar deep in thought, Mira, as usual, was very quick to pick up on it.

"What's the matter Natsu? You look like your stuck wit something."

Natsu looked at her with a frown, Mira could see what few cogs there was in Natsu's head turn as he tried to decide whether to trust Mira or not.

"Is it about Lucy?" Mira asked knowingly.

"Wait, What, how did you know?" Natsu asked shocked.

"Natsu, I've known you for a long time I can just tell these things, so what's the matter?"

Natsu bit his lip before moving closer to Mira so that no one else heard. "Well now I'm supposed to be going out with Lucy bit I don't really know what that entails. What does going out mean,"

Mira smiled sympathetically, "that's okay, you like most of the younger blockheads in this guild haven't ever had girlfriends before so I will give you a hand if you would like."

Natsu nodded hopefully. "Right in that case do you know what a date is?"

"A fruit?" Natsu said confused.

"No silly, a date is where a boyfriend take his girlfriend out for a day."

"Okay so you want me to take Lucy out on a date?"

"Obviously, you have to do these kinds of things now your in a grown up relationship, otherwise Lucy will think you don't like her and get bored with you."

"But I do like Lucy." Natsu said with a blush, inside he actually knew it was more than just liking her.

"Good, so you have to let her know by telling her, taking her on dates and buying her gifts. Now, I heard Lucy has two tickets to go skiing which she will offer you soon. Say yes and go skiing with her then in the evening you are going to take her on the perfect date alright?"

"Alright, this is going to be awesome! So what do I do?" Natsu asked now getting pretty pumped.

"Right, here is the formula for the perfect date! Take notes." Mira ordered. Inside she was cheering like a little girl, this was so exciting.

(Present time)

Natsu stood outside a bistro in the ski resort they were staying in. Snow was falling and it was cold but the fire dragon slayer couldn't feel it, all he was thinking right now was the plan for the date ahead. He looked down at himself. He was shocked at how unfamiliar he looked, if he was honest he never really liked wearing suits but Mira had told him he had to. The suit was black and slim fitting and over a white shirt he wore a red silk tie, no other colour suited him better. Natsu couldn't help but feel nervous, there seemed to be a lot of pressure behind the first date so he couldn't really afford to mess up. Then again, it was only Lucy, at this thought Natsu felt a slight comfort. Nervously Natsu ran through the plan for the date in his head every moment had been planned out in advance by him and Mira until the perfect formula was concocted, the only issue was remembering such a complex plan. Natsu had already pulled off the first part telling Lucy to dress nicely and meet him here, but that was the easy bit.

He soon heard the crunch of footsteps in the snow. He turned knowing instantly that it was Lucy. Lucy stood a little way in front of him with an embarrassed smile, she was wearing a gorgeous red dress but her hair was tied up in her usual style. Natsu stood with his mouth wide open as he looked at his girlfriend the only thought in his head was, how was he so lucky?

She spoke first, "Are you alright Natsu, you nose is bleeding?" Natsu quickly came to his senses and closed his mouth and wiped the blood of his lip.

"Sorry, I'm fine…" He looked to the side nervously remembering Mira's first bit of advice. He turned and looked directly into her eyes, "Lucy, you look beautiful tonight."

Lucy erupted red and started to flail her arms around embarrassed. "What are you talking about I just threw this on last minute… Hahaha." She said flustered she soon calmed down, "You look really nice as well,"

Natsu smiled glad the suit had paid off. "Thanks, hey, should we head in I'm starving." Natsu said this made Lucy chuckle slightly.

"Of course you are, c'mon then." She said holding out her hand for Natsu to take. Natsu did so and as she stepped to his side he caught a wave of her perfume, it was sweet and smelled like vanilla.

With a slight blush he said, "let's head in." And the pair walked into the restaurant together.

The couple had been given a table in the back corner of the restaurant just for the two of them and ordered some food and drink, scented candles surrounded a small glass vase that held a single rose in sat on the table. Natsu hadn't predicted how romantic the place would be and shifted uncomfortably. Lucy quickly noticed this and decided to strike up conversation between the two of them. Slowly the conversation escalated as they talked about their skiing (which Natsu was now crazy about), the hilarious recent guild antics as well as a plethora of other subjects. Conversation was easy, just like how they had spoken before but now there was a certain closeness in their conversation, bordering on intimacy it felt like flirting but it was more than that.

"Hey Natsu, do you remember how we first met?" Lucy asked.

"Oh yeh, I saved you from that jackass who was impersonating me didn't I. That was a pretty crazy day huh?"

"Yeh, it was."

"Still the best part was the bit where you ended up sweeping the entire boat to shore, that was pretty hilarious." Natsu said chuckling.

"No way, the best part was absolutely the moment you revealed you were in Fairy Tail and went on to destroy the fake salamander and save everyone. That was probably one of my favourite memories of us together."

"Really? But we've done so much together why is that one of them?"

"Well, looking back, it was at that moment I knew what my destiny was, I knew that you would lead me to Fairy Tail and introduce me to everyone and then spend the next year and a half making all kinds of incredible new memories, without that moment the rest wouldn't have happened. It was the start of something new." Lucy said.

Natsu looked at her shocked not knowing what to say, Mira hadn't prepared him for this, what was he meant to say now. Fortunately he was saved by the waiter who produced food for the pair of them.

"You know Lucy, I've read your book."

"Really already, I expected it to take you much longer."

"Well so did I, but once I started reading it I couldn't put it down, I ended up pulling an all nighter."

"So what did you think?"

"I loved it, it's the best thing I've ever read, I mean it made me laugh it made me scared heck it even made me cry. All the memories we shared in one book, it was really cool I can't wait for everyone else to read it."

"Seriously you liked it that much." Lucy said bordering on elation.

"Of course I did but,"

"But?"

"I don't think it's finished yet."

"What do you mean?" Lucy asked.

"Well there's a lot more to it, our memories aren't gunna stop here they're going to continue so this book is not finished." Lucy began to chuckle, slowly it increased until it became a full blown laugh that caused other people to turn and look at her.

"Natsu, you idiot, that's why we are going to write a sequel."

"We? A sequel?"

Lucy continued to laugh at Natsu's air-headedness, Natsu was confused for a bit but eventually smiled, happy simply that she was happy.

After eating at the bistro, Natsu and Lucy soon left and wondered the streets of the resort arm in arm, both happily talking about what they would write in there new books. They soon came to the central square. In the middle was a Yuletide tree that was beautifully decorated in golds and reds. Natsu and Lucy looked at each other smiling both happier than they had been in a long time. Natsu turned to face Lucy and Lucy turned to face Natsu.

"Hey, Luce guess what?"

"What?"

"I managed to go a whole evening without destroying anything."

Lucy laughed, "Oh my goodness what is wrong with the world,"

"I know right," there was a moment of silence where the couple just looked into each others eyes both blushing like embarrassed school girls.

"Hey, Natsu guess what?"

"I think I can guess," Natsu said confidently.

"Well go on then smart arse," Lucy smiled.

"I love you." Natsu said not breaking eye contact.

Lucy nodded, "I love you too." In that moment Lucy and Natsu shared the most unforgettable kiss underneath the gaze of the Yuletide tree and the night's sky. Both knew that it was the first of many.


	34. Abaddon's Savior

**Chapter 34 - Abbadon's Saviour**

**This is it, the last chapter of The Insurrection arc, it is a very short one but concludes the insurrection arc completely. Last time Link and Hero unveiled a huge lacroma that was supplying the magic energy required to host the insurrection until it became self sustaining, they have rigged explosives around it. Erza and Jellal are being beaten by Abaddon who is about to unveil the next stage of her insurrection.**

**please fave and follow if you enjoyed it and please send me reviews for the story, do you prefer the more fairy tail esque arc? What did you think of the last arc? Anything i can improve on in the future? Anything you want to see in the story? Ect**

**Thank you all, Enjoy!**

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Jellal's head began to ring as all of a sudden the huge source of magic energy that seemed to be coming from below the city was put to an end with a loud explosion. The staff of insurrection hit the ground and a lightning bolt struck it but nothing happened. The ground stopped shaking and the once turbulent clouds had stopped still. Abaddon looked down into the city and saw a smoke cloud in the east side.

"How?" Suddenly the witch clutched her heart and could finally feel the power she was using up to produce the insurrection. The feeling burned and seared her insides forcing her to drop the staff of insurrection and fall to her knees. Abaddon quickly realised she had to stop the insurrection before it consumed her, the magic was not yet self sustaining. Quickly she grabbed the staff ready to stand up and end what she had started but a shock ran through her body as she touched the staff stopping her from picking it up.

Jellal stood straight and faced Abaddon who had fallen. "Abaddon, we are done here surrender and I promise no harm will come to you."

"Ha as if!" She spat picking herself up "I don't need the staff to beat a worm like you." She announced raising her hand to fire three black shots of magic. Jellal could feel his fatigue a single blast and he would be down. With all the remaining strength he could muster he ducked under the shots pulling himself back up to fire three golden shots of his own. Abaddon returned in kind and the shots met in mid-air the opposite magics attracting and cancelling each other. Jellal could see abaddon was struggling with her attacks. Quickly his mind formulated an inescapable plan. It was time to finish this.

With a wave the shots stopped and jellal bent down slightly, his fists were clenched so only his middle and index fingers were sticking out and both were pointing towards the ground. As he stretched is left arm to reach his outstretched right, magic began to flow out of him light began to pierce through the dark clouds above.

"True Heavenly body magic: Sema!"

And intense golden aura surrounded Jellal and the light from above became blinding drawing the eyes of every person in the city towards the insignia guildhall.

Abaddon, in desperation, fired shots of dark magic at Jellal to no effect. Jellal just watched mercilessly.

Erza couldn't keep her eyes open, the sheer power Jellal was producing was extraordinary. Erza looked at him for a second knowing this amount of magic could kill both him and abaddon. Jellal's eyes met hers with a comforting gaze, erza knew then that she could trust Jellal with this. In an instant the light concentrated at one point and the dark clouds overhead instantly disappeared to give a clear view of the night's sky. But it was not the same black sky as everyone was used to. Plummeting towards them at a terrifying speed was the meteor Jellal had summoned on a direct collision course for the terrified necromancer.

"Siegrain, how… How can it end like this? All we accomplished together… Everything that we had was it all for nothing?" She pleaded.

At this jellal lost his composure. "I am not your siegrain." He shouted angrily causing abaddon to break down into tears as she looked up at her unavoidable defeat. Her only other option was to run but she knew she had no chance. She looked back at Jellal, "you win."

With a terrifying explosion and a shockwave that shook the foundations of the guildhall the meteor made contact. It soon settled and Jellal was confident it was over. All of a sudden an unsettling implosion occurred sucking all the air around him towards the meteor strike. In panic Jellal turned around. A single man stood above the necromancer, his black hair waving madly in the wind as he held a palm up against the sky. Above him was a blazing orb of golden light, no doubt Jellal's meteor and between him and the meteor was a thin layer of pure darkness. Jellal gasped and fell to the floor in fear of the power he was beholding. The black haired man brought his fist back and punched towards the meteor thrusting it in a single blow back into space. He then turned to the burning city and held his arms up in an instant the fires were drowned, the smoke quenched and the dead thrust back to where they had come from.

Jellal watched in awe at the sheer power of the man, it was nothing he had ever felt before, it was tremendous but terrifying. There was no doubt who the man was, Zeref had just saved his disciple. The world suddenly felt incredibly calm, ruined city now bathed in peaceful starlight and everyone on the roof of the guildhall was still.

Zeref turned around, his eyes were cold and dead as he looked at Jellal for a second before dismissing him. He knelt down next to Abaddon and held out his hand, in a voice too sweet for the strength he had shown he said.

"I need your help, would you lend me your power."

Abaddon was just as speechless as Jellal and couldn't string two words together. After a moment she simply nodded and took his hand. Jellal blinked and the pair of them were gone.

(…)

Everyone sat in the bottom floor of the ruined Insignia's guildhall, the exhaustion was evident on everyones faces. Link sat next to Erza gently treating the wounds she had earned from her fight. Hero had been reunited with Cryse and Roran and the three were quietly enjoying each others company. Meredy, Wendy, Carla and Lucy were with Natsu, Happy and Gray none of them were talking but were happy resting together. The only person who was not congregating with the rest was Jellal who was currently sat on his own with an intense look plastered onto his face. By now everyone had heard what had happened and all were simply taking the news in. Not only had Zeref arrived but he had managed to stop Jellal's strongest attack, saved Abaddon and stopped the insurrection in a matter of seconds. Link and Erza were taking the news hard, this was Erza's second encounter with Zeref and now she feared him more than ever.

She remembered the rage she had felt when she saw him she wanted so badly to shove sword into his chest like he had done to Link but out of sheer fright she could not move in his presence. She remembered watching thinking maybe it would be Jellal this time, she wouldn't have been able to face that losing him like she almost did Link. Tears began to roll down her cheek, it had been a rough day. As she looked down she felts two fingers on her chin making her look up and open her eyes. She met Link's sorrowful blue eyes, she could see he was sad but he was not crying there was a new kind of determination in his eyes and she could see that.

Almost in a whisper he said. "Get some sleep, Erz. We will catch the first possible train back to Fairy Tail tomorrow morning." Erza nodded and decided to sleep on the floor leaning up against a pillar. Link turned to the rest of them with the same message, they all nodded and all respectively fell asleep. Link smiled as he saw Hero nestled in between Roran and Cryse it was quite heartwarming, be blushed when he saw Roran and Cryse holding hands.

Once he was confident they were all asleep Link left the room and walked up to the top of the tower. He stood in the spot where Erza, Jellal and Abaddon had their fight. The roof was covered in scorch marks and scratches and scattered bones. Link looked out across the town with a dreaded sadness, he could see the destruction their arrival had wrought on the place. Even one of the mighty towers had fallen and been destroyed, Link was simply glad the towns people had been evacuated successfully with no major casualties. He wouldn't have known what to do with himself if one of them had died. He felt shuffling behind him and turned to face whoever had joined him.

In front of him stood Jellal and Meredy with large bags on their backs signifying that they were leaving.

"Link, we're going to head out now." Meredy said,

"I can see." Link replied solemnly,

After a moments silence Jellal said, "Meredy could me and Link have a moment." Meredy nodded and left to roof.

Jellal turned back to Link, "Who gets to keep the staff then?" He said. Link looked at the floor where the staff lay no one had dared to touch it since the fight.

"I will take it and safely dispose of it." Link said resolutely.

"Good, that was my plan as well but you have better resources it will be easier for you guys." Jellal said leaving another awkward silence.

"Hey listen Link," jellal started, "I know you don't like me and I can understand why but, I want to tell you you are a fantastic person…" This surprised Link but he didn't show it.

"You are a far better man than I, so please I would like you to do me one thing of incredible importance to me." Link was now listening intently, "Please do what I cannot and make Erza the happiest woman alive."

This caught Link slightly of guard. "I'm sure you've heard of our history together and it's true I did once love her, heck I still do, but I've seen her with you and I cannot give her what you can. That's why I'm passing this onto you, she loves you Link and you love her, it is blindingly obvious to everyone, so… I'm leaving it up to you… Will you accept." After a moment Link looked into his eyes and nodded silently.

By now Meredy was back on the roof stood next to Jellal. "Are we ready to go then?" She asked sweetly.

"I think so." Jellal said. "Good bye Link, and thank you, I'm sure we will see each other again soon."

"Hmm, theres no doubt, safe travels Jellal, Meredy." Link said sadly.

Meredy walked up and gave Link a long hug, "It was nice meeting you Link,"

"And you," Link replied hugging the woman back. After they separated she returned to Jellal and they both turned to face the outside world. With a tremendous jump the two independent mages jumped off the top of the guildhall and began gliding down into the city below. Link noticed the sun finally come up, Link sighed and decided to return inside for some well earned rest.

(…)

Later that day Team Natsu and the three from Insignia were all stood in front of Nagamasa train station. Hero was beaming happily as he walked behind Roran and Cryse. Team Natsu weren't so surprised as to discover the two had started dating after the events of last night.

"Natsu speed up, the train is going to leave soon." Erza sternly warned.

Natsu still exhausted from last night groaned "I don't wanna get on the train." Causing the rest of the team to laugh. Link turned to the new couple and Hero.

"I guess this is it." He sighed.

Cryse fluttered her wings before replying. "Well I'm sure we'll see each other again."

"Yeh who knows maybe we'll bump into each other at the next grand magic games." Hero grinned.

"Well, you can't expect us to go easy on you, Fairy Tail has a reputation to keep up." Link returned.

"Aye I suppose you do besides we've got a lot of work to do here, rebuilding everything is going to take a while." Roran sighed looking around at the destruction that was evident even here.

"Quit complaining Mr. Guild master, it's your job now isn't it." The angel said in a flirtatious manner.

At this Hero stuck his tongue out and pulled a disgusted face saying. "Urgh get a room you two." He then walked up to Link, "Hey, Link thank you for all this." He said quietly.

"Theres no need to thank me, I didn't do very much, you were the real Hero." Link said tussling the foreign boys head.

"Oh and tell your girlfriend thanks as well," Hero said cheekily nudging the man causing him to blush bright red and say.

"Hey she's not my girlfriend." This unfortunately caused Erza to look up from her luggage with a confused expression. She quickly shook her head and returned to what she was doing. Link chuckled and looked at her with a contented smile, "yet…" He whispered.

"Well then be sure to visit of your ever in the area." Cryse said happily.

"Back at you, I'll see you all later." Link yelled running to join the rest of his team. Everyone waved goodbye as they began to board the train. Link didn't miss the cheeky wink Hero gave Wendy causing her to blush madly as she boarded the train.

Link sighed and pulled into the seat next to Erza, they were going home. He thought about the staff of insurrection which was now safely locked away in Erza's mountain of luggage. When they got back he would make sure to get in contact with gildarts so he could destroy it with his crash magic. Erza caught his eye and she turned to him.

"Everything alright Link?" She said smiling.

"Yeh… everything's fine, you know what when we get back why don't we go on holiday, it's been none stop since the day we met and I could use a break." Link suggested.

Erza smiled softly, "That sounds like a great idea Link."

With that Link leaned back into his chair and pulled his cap over his eyes and fell asleep dreaming of how he was going to accomplish his next big challenge. Asking Erza out.

* * *

**So there you go. The end of the insurrection arc, i have started writing the next arc already because i wanted to get it written and out of the way before exams. This however hasn't gone to plan and i'm only one or two chapters in and they are a lot longer than normal so take a lot of time to get right. Hopefully it wont effect my scheduling but it is a possiblility**

* * *

**Side chapter - Cana's Mission pt III**

**Sorry it's late but here you go this is the last installment of Cana and Link's mission, the ending kinda makes me sad cos i really like Cana and she deserves better. But anyway i hope you enjoy it!**

* * *

Link charged at the flaming wyrm, all he had to do was keep it focused on him while Cana prepared her magic attacks. Fortunately the monster was on to him first. It raised one of it's serpentine legs and flew forward to attack him. The claws dug through the earth kicking up dust. Link narrowly avoided the attack by launching himself into the air. He soon descended on the serpent in a spin attack that sliced through it's cheek. Link landed and retreated a few paces. He could see the monster was visibly mad now. The serpent bellowed summoning a huge amount of magic energy he soon loosed it in a beam of sheer heat. Link raised his shield to block it even with his fire resistance he was still sweating from the heat. The force of the beam forced him to slide back but Link stood fast until the beam stopped, his shield coming out of the attack unharmed.

"Link get out of the way!" Cana shouted. Link quickly jumped back and watched as five cards flew past him.

"Card combo – cascade!" She shouted, the cards exploded with light and turned into an enormous torrent of water which flew into the fire wyrm producing huge amounts of steam. Link saw his opportunity and sped forward to attack with his blade knowing that the dragon would need to recover. As the water dissipated link could see a large serpentine eye shine through. The beast hadn't felt a thing. Link cursed as a set of claws flew towards him. He blocked with his shield but the claws wrapped around his whole body, one claw tearing through his armour into his side. Link yelped in pain as he was raised up by the dragon.

"Link!' Cana yelled, she threw three more cards they re-materialised into three slashes of water the struck the arm. The serpent released Link and Link used farore's wind to teleport to safety. "Link your hurt." Cana said running over to him.

"I'm fine Cana, I've had worse." Link said as he clutched his side, blood was oozing out. Cana thought back to the previous night in the bath, one of the first things she noticed about his body, other than it being totally ripped, was that it was covered in scars. Long scratches, deep pits and all kinds of other injuries. It worried her slightly but she didn't mention it.

"Cana, I don't suppose your cards can imbue my arrows with magic." Link said.

"Your arrows? I guess they could."

"Good get out a light card and three water cards, if you have them." Link said pulling a quiver out of his pouch, the serpent was now approaching.

Link took the cards and stabbed them with arrows he placed them back in his quiver before he took his bow and began to run. "Activate them when I say he called back."

He pulled out the first arrow as he skirted the monster drawing it away from Cana.

"Now!" He yelled as he loosed the arrow. Cana released the seal on the card and light flashed brilliantly at the head of the serpent. It roared in rage and started to writhe around. Link grinned and rolled underneath it with the second arrow.

"Now" the arrow was released and struck the dragon under the chin. Cana activated the card and water basted it back until it hit a wall. Link them used farore's wind to teleport into the sky knocking the last two arrows at once.

"Last two," he yelled, cana once again repeated the process as the arrows were loosed turning them into arrows of water that struck the monster. Link used Farore's wind again and landed next to Cana visibly out of breath.

"Thanks for buying me time Link, Trap cards – imprison." Link looked round and saw a set of eight cards on the floor in a square around the serpent, they began to glow and rocks shot out form them forming a cage over the monster. Link looked on impressed.

"What! Did you think I was just gonna stand here and watch you take that thing on single handedly." Link chuckled and redrew his sword.

"Well I guess it's time to finish this." Link said as he swung his blade confidently. He thrust it into the sky and felt as magic energy flooded into the sword.

"Skyward Strike!" He yelled as he slashed the sword downwards. A beam of light flew from the sword and struck the fire wyrm exploding on contact. The fire died out. Leaving both Link and Cana in darkness.

"We did it!" Cana said she went to Link for a high five but just received a quizzical look. "Your meant to slap it." Cana said she forgot Link was a bit of a social hermit. Link sheathed his sword and shield and warily moved her hand towards hers.

It happened faster than Cana could realise, one second Link was there the next he had been smashed into a wall at the end of the room. Immediately after Cana watched a long serpentine tail re-alight.

"Link are you alright!" She yelled before she was met by a large serpentine face. It opened it's maw and charged an attack, Cana acting quickly threw a few card into it's open maw and ran activating them as fast as she could towards Link. The cards exploded in the throat of the wyrm but did little damage. Link was pulling himself up leaning on his sword. Cana noticed the state he was in.

"Link let me handle this, please rest." Cana said as she placed a hand on his shoulder. Link shrugged it off and continued to stand. "Link, stop being a chivalrous bastard and stand down, you are in no condition to fight,"

Link shook his head, "Cana, if Fairy Tail has taught me anything it's that we fight for our friends I will not abandon you."

Cana looked at him almost shocked, she then smiled and laughed, "You got that from Natsu didn't you."

"Ah, shut it and lets teach this dragon a lesson." Link grunted Cana nodded and helped Link up. The pair turned to the serpent and stood there ground confidently.

"Ready Link?"

"Aye!"

"Then let's go!" Cana shouted.

Together they charged towards the beast wielding there respective weapons when something totally unexpected happened.

"Get the hell away from him you bitch!" Came a voice from above. Link looked up to see a figure above them in one of the holes in the wall.

"Erza?" Link and Cana shouted shocked. They simply watched as she jumped off the wall wielding an enormous hammer and brought it down on the head of the boiling hot beast. It's head collided into the floor causing the earth to shake from the impact. Erza landed heavily as she dispelled her large hammer and retreated back to Link.

"Erza, why are you here?" Link asked.

Erza turned around and instantly blushed red, flustered she said, "urm… What? Oh nothing nothing at all I was just you know passing through the area and I heard you guys were here and um needed a hand. I'm wasn't following you hahahaha."

"Right." Cana said sarcastically, she looked at Link who seemed to believe her. Suddenly his eyes changed and became sharp once again.

"Erza! Watch out!" He yelled. He shoved Erza out of the way and used his shield to block a fire ball as if it was nothing. Can watched shocked at how fast he had reacted that was the fastest she had seen him, not to mention he was still injured.

"Tch, that thing's still standing, well then Link let's give it a taste of our steel." Erza said requipping into her flame empress armour.

"Right." Link responded preparing himself.

Before Cana could even react the pair of them had launched themselves towards the beast and with unfollowable speed was tearing at the monster. The pair of them together were an unrelenting hurricane of steel. Their attacks perfectly complimenting each other as they pulled off fantastically executed combinations. The dragon was roaring in pain and was releasing exponentially more flames as it became more and more enraged but the inferno seemed to have no effect of neither of the two warriors. Soon the pair retreated standing in front of Cana with bold stances as the monster collapsed to the floor and it's fire died out.

Cana was shivering, her heart was pounding faster than it ever had in her life as she looked at the silhouette of Link against the dying light. He sheathed his sword calmly with all the discipline of a swordsman and looked at Erza, she looked back at him and Cana knew, she didn't stand a chance with Link he had already found someone else. Cana fell to the floor and rested her back against the wall of the cavern. Link immediately ran to her to see if she was okay he held her cheek in his rough but tender hands.

"Cana are you alright?" He asked worried, Erza stood above him and Cana could see two emotions plain as day, general concern for her guild-mate mixed with a just a light pinch of jealousy, nothing too flashy.

Cana felt faint so didn't answer and simply sighed closing her eyes. After a moment she felt an arm hook under her legs and one slide under her back. She was lifted gently of the ground. Opening her eyes slightly she saw Link carrying her. She smiled calmly and rested her head on his chest, sure she didn't have a chance with him but was it so wrong to at least savour this moment. And so in the arms of a hero Cana fell into the best sleep of her life.


	35. Interlinked

**Chapter 35 - Interlinked**

**Hello again, i'm back with a new chapter, this is partially filler partially the start of the new arc. You will probably know what's coming up in the future by the end of this chapter. I'm reasonably proud of this but it was a hard chapter to write and i wanted it to be more realistic than completely troped and clichèd (you will understand what i mean later but i may have just failed and gone beyond the realm of tropes).**

**Also there are no more planned side chapters from now on the next arc's base chapters will be longer than normal so i wont have time to write side chapters. I do hope you enjoyed them and those who made requests were satisfied. I may pick them up later in the story but it doesn't seem very likely currently. **

**On a more personal note this week has been pretty busy as it has been my last ever week of school, not including exams. Which means i should be off to university soon if all goes well. It does mean i will have a lot more time for this fic once exams are finished but it is very unlikely i will write a huge amount in the next few weeks as i am locking away all distractions from my studies. So expect a possible hiatus for a month if i feel overwhelmed.**

**Anyway, i hope you enjoy the chapter and please leave a review for me, it really helps me to hear your opinions and critisisms. **

* * *

"Alright! We made it!" Natsu yelled jumping up and down in delight as he looked down on Akane resort, the destination for team Natsu's vacation. It had taken a few months for the group to get tickets to the resort but now they were finally here.

Link looked around at his teammates. The whole of team Natsu was here along with Levy, Gajeel, Pantherlily and Juvia who had happily tagged along.

"Don't get too excited Natsu we're not here to play we're here to train. We've got the grand magic games coming up and the other guilds are going to stop at nothing to dethrone us." Erza said sternly.

"Wait, where are you two going are you not going to train with us?" Lucy asked looking at the large backpacks Erza and Link were holding.

"We've decided to train up in the mountains for a while." Link answered

"Aye but we will return every now and then to make sure your training is progressing." Erza cautioned.

"Naw and I thought we had it easy." Natsu said sadly. "Hey Erza if I train hard enough will you fight me?"

"If you get strong enough of course I will." Erza adopted a demonic glare, "but I'm not going to go easy on you Natsu, I can't afford to ruin my win streak against you."

Natsu faced down her stare with an equally terrifying look. "Bring… It… On," he said cockily.

"Ah cool down salamander, you wanna fight so bad I'll take you on anytime geehee." Gajeel said coming between the two.

"Gajeel," Levy whined, "Stop picking fights your going to hold up Link and Erza." Gajeel grunted and backed down at Levy's request.

"Right we best be off, Lucy, Levy you two are in charge." Erza said.

"Yes ma'am." They both said saluting Erza.

"Oh and take care of Airya for me." Link told them. The giant crimson loftwing squawked loudly from the palm tree it was perched on.

"We will see you later, work hard!" Wendy said waving.

Everyone said goodbye and Link and Erza separated from the group heading into the forest nearby.

"Hey Erza are you sure they're going to be okay?" Link asked looking back at the other group.

"I'm sure they will be fine... Maybe." Erza said nervously.

(...)

Less than half an hour after they had all checked into their rooms at the hotel and the team were heading down to the beach. So far only Natsu and Gray had made it, they stood glaring viciously at each other topless in their usual swimming trunks. The women around them, who were casually enjoying their holiday, could not help but stare at the wizards well built bodies some debating whether to approach the two men. Happy hovered above their heads wearing his usual rubber ring and snorkel mask.

The three turned around when they heard a shout from Lucy who was running towards them waving, her white bikini barely contained her breasts as they bounced up and down in time with her steps. She quickly reached the guys and instantly jumped at Natsu for an embrace, giggling as she knocked her boyfriend over into the sand. Natsu ended up joining in her laughter as he challenged her to a race to the sea which she gladly accepted.

"Well that was quick." Gray cringed at the couple's antics, they were closer than ever.

"Aye!" Happy agreed watching them race, he could tell Natsu was letting her win.

"Yo!" Came a new voice originating from Gajeel along with Pantherlily. Gray and Happy turned around to greet him but instantly screamed in terror and covered their eyes at the sight.

"Gajeel, where did you get those they're…" Gray was lost for words.

"Toxic!" Happy helped him out almost feinting at the sight.

"Geeheehee, you know it, these are none other than my dragon slayin' speedos. What do you think?" Gajeel said proudly showing them off for the world to see..

"I think they'll do more than slay dragons!" Happy said under his breath. Pantherlily just chuckled and tried to avoid looking.

"So where are the rest of the girls? I only saw Lucy sprint past us." Pantherlily asked looking around.

"They should be here by now, I don't know." Gray said. As if on queue there was another call and the girls had arrived. Carla, Wendy, Levy and Juvia were all walking towards the guys in their various swimsuits. Some of them leaving very little to the imagination. As the four of them approached, Gray noticed the panicked look on Levy's face as she saw Gajeel before his attention was instantly drawn towards Juvia who was in a pale blue bikini with a long white sarong covering the upper half of her legs. Even he couldn't deny she looked stunning.

Happy, Carla and Pantherlily had already disappeared and were playing in the sand like children. Gray and Juvia and Levy and Gajeel stood awkwardly together, none of them wanting to speak first due to nervousness. Eventually Gajeel asked Levy if they should join Natsu and Lucy, she agreed and the pair raced over to the sea. Juvia shifted uncomfortably hoping Gray would for once notice her, once again she had chosen her bikini for him and hoped beyond anything else that her beloved would notice.

Gray looked at her and smiled, "Hey Juvia, we can't miss out on the fun can we, let's catch up." He said nonchalantly. Juvia was disappointed until she felt a light pressure on her hand she looked down and noticed Gray had taken her hand intending to lead her to the ocean. Juvia turned bright pink, she could have melted in delight. With a simple contented nod she let Gray lead her to join the others. Wendy watched as the older members of the guild abandoned her.

"I knew I was the tenth wheel." She sighed sadly, everyone seemed to have someone except her, it was so unfair. She had continually noticed that everyone seemed to have someone they could be paired with but she didn't really have anyone. The only person her age at the guild was Romeo and there was no way she wanted to go out with romeo, not that she didn't like the guy, he was just too… Natsu. Just as she was about to head over to everyone in the sea she felt a shadow fall across her.

"Hey are you alright?" Wendy looked up to see a young boy probably her age with messy red hair and a mischievous grin he was wearing red trunks and a white t shirt.

Wendy put on a smile, "I'm fine," she said.

The boy frowned and looked to the side with a blush on his face, "hey, I was wondering… Do you fancy some ice cream, me and my sister were just about to go get some." he asked nervously, Wendy looked behind the boy to see an incredibly young girl with ginger curls and a finger up her nose she was wearing a green one piece swimsuit..

"I don't know, I mean," she looked around for her friends, she saw the exceeds happily chatting and everyone else messing around in the sea. Then she made her decision. "Ice cream would be nice, thank you," She said politely. Then walked off towards the small hut at the back of the beach.

"Great, my name's Aaron by the way, this is my sister Grace."

"Nice to meet you, my name is Wendy." Wendy smiled at the pair letting them drag her away to the ice-cream truck.

Wendy sat on the wall with her new friends, eating her ice cream which tasted incredible in the hot sun. The boy to her left, Aaron, she had discovered was her age and lived in the nearby town of Balsa with her sister, Grace was five years younger than him and completely silent, she clung to the boy like he was a teddy bear. She felt slightly awkward as she sat silently next to the boy wondering what she should say, she couldn't deny he was fairly attractive and was deeply complimented he had asked her to hang out with him but now she had no idea what to say or do. She glanced over at the boy and noticed something rather odd. His ice cream was melting at an incredible rate, much faster than hers, and was dripping all over his hand.

"Um, Aaron, your ice creams melting." She pointed out politely.

"I know it doesn't matter too much I'm used to it. Hey that's the guild mark of Fairy Tail isn't it, does that make you Wendy Marvell?" He suddenly asked. Wendy nodded embarrassed she was recognised. Aaron suddenly got really exited "I knew it I watched your fight with Chelia you were really cool! So that means you must be here with others from Fairy Tail, that must be Natsu and Gray in the sea those guys are so cool." Aaron said with an excited look as he saw them having a rather savage water fight - Juvia and Gray were winning by a longshot.

Wendy laughed, "oh, you watched the grand magic games?"

"Of course me and Grace were in the stadium, it's the highlight of my year. Hey are you going to enter this year." The boy grinned, his sister nodded vigourously.

"I don't know I mean we're all about to start our training for the next grand magic games but I might stay in the reserves this year especially since we've now got Link."

"Link?" The boy said quizzically.

"Yup, he's new to Fairy Tail but is easily as strong as Erza and possibly even Laxus. Although he's not an official S-class mage, he has easily been able to do s-class missions single handedly. He totally fancies Erza."

"He sounds strong." Aaron said in contemplation. In an instant he wolfed down the rest of his ice cream and stood up he swiftly spun round and bowed to Wendy holding a hand out.

"Wendy would you do me the honour of helping me and Grace in making the biggest and best sand castle this resort has ever seen."

Wendy blushed and hesitated heavily before taking the hand of the boy, it was abnormally hot but Wendy dismissed it as the boy pulled her and his sister across the beach at speeds that would make Jet weep. The sister remained silent her finger firmly wedged in her nose as she flapped in the wind.

(Meanwhile in the forests)

"Well Link you're the survival expert, what are we doing first?" Erza asked as she walked next to Link.

"I guess we need a place to make camp, we are far enough away from civilisation to safely train now so anywhere around here would be good." Link said. "Preferably we want a source of fresh water and food as well as a high vantage point."

"What about over there then." Erza said pointing to a waterfall not too far away.

"Looks good, we'll camp at the bottom where the water is less turbulent." Link decided.

"Right." Erza said happily. "Let's hurry and get over there then."

Link grinned and nodded as Erza walked ahead. It had been sometime since the events at Nagamasa, now spring was turning to summer and the grand magic games were fast approaching. Link had spent the last few months working with Erza. Their missions now mostly involved finding artefacts from the books of Zeref and completing job requests for Fairy Tail with team Natsu. Link had had to stay fairly under the radar as the pair didn't want Zeref to catch wind of Link's survival, although Link was fairly certain he already knew. Any time they were not doing jobs, Link was training with Erza or performing his secret part time job. Link was currently working part time cooking and waiting in a well paying restaurant in Magnolia, it was embarrassing and hard work but Link did enjoy his time there. For the past few months he had been saving money for one thing. This trip to Akane resort. Link had been holding in this plan for a long time because this was the week he was going to confess to Erza and he needed it to be perfect.

The pair quickly arrived at the bottom of the waterfall and were astonished at the beauty of it. The water silently cascaded down the cliffside and pooled into a small crystalline lake at the bottom which then drifted off towards the sea. The area around it was clear enough for a camp and the tropical trees surrounding them filled the area with a unique vibrance that made this place perfect.

"This place looks good, Erza how about you set up the tent and I'll be back soon." Link said happily. He dumped his pack and walked into the forest.

"Wait where are you going?" Erza asked.

"To find dinner." He answered. "Try and start a fire before I get back as well please."

"Fine." Erza called back watching him head into the jungle.

Erza pulled the tent out of her pack and got to work. The only thing she thought about whilst building this tent was Link. She was practically going to spend the next month and a half alone with him only leaving to make sure everyone else was okay on the weekends. Of course she wasn't complaining, she loved spending time with Link and she had an ulterior motive for heading off alone with Link. This was also her chance to confess her feelings.

(back at Akane resort)

Wendy, Grace and Aaron stood in front of their grand sand castle. It was incredible. Based off the royal palace in Crocus, the castle reached twice the children's heights and had attracted all kinds of attention from the onlookers. The three of them were incredibly proud of their accomplishment but were now exhausted and the three of them sat in the sand chatting idly. Eventually they noticed almost everyone from Fairy Tail on the trip approaching them.

"Yo Wendy, what's going on?" Natsu called, he saw the red headed boy and his sister. "Who are these guys?" He asked.

"Oh these are my new friends, Aaron and Grace. You two these are my guild-mates."

"You're Natsu Dragneel, hey it's so awesome to meet you, I've heard loads about you." Aaron said excitedly shaking his hand.

"Really? From who?" Natsu said clueless.

"Well from my guild." Aaron said simply.

"Wait, You're a mage?" Wendy asked caught completely by surprise, "why didn't you tell me?"

"It never came up?" He shrugged.

"Which guild?" Lucy asked.

The boy turned around and lifted his shirt. In the centre of his back lay a red guild-mark for the guild sabre-tooth.

"What? You two are members of Sabre-tooth." Gray yelled. The whole of Fairy Tail looked shocked and as if on queue they heard a new voice calling to them.

"Yo Aaron, Grace, what's going on?" A blonde dragon slayer called from the left followed by Rouge, Rufus, Orga and Yukino, he saw the members of Fairy Tail and instantly stood still. "Natsu." He said menacingly.

"Sting." Natsu replied staring down his rival. Gajeel and Rouge ended up doing the same but silently.

"Yukino!" Lucy called happily running towards her.

"Lucy!" She replied meeting her in a hug. "It's good to see you again I missed you, we haven't met up in ages." Yukino said happily.

"I know right, tell you what, us girls will meet up tonight and have a girls night. What do you say?"

Before Yukino could say yes she was interrupted, "haha, that's not happening Yukino, sorry but we can't have you fraternising with the enemy before a competition." Orga loudly said.

"Now, now Orga just because we are enemies does not mean we cannot be… Civil." Rufus said looking at Gray with a smile that made him shiver.

Lucy sweat-dropped, "You say that when that's happening." She pointed towards Natsu and Sting who were trying to attack each other. Sting was held back by Rouge and Natsu was being held back by Gajeel, both he and Rouge looked bored as they held the other dragon slayers back easily.

"C'mon Sting this is our training area, we got here first." Natsu called.

"Huh, like hell you were we've been here since this morning." Sting fought back.

"Well we were here last year this is our spot!" Natsu yelled.

"No, you weren't we trained here last year you were no where near? Maybe you over fried your brain and got confused with some other resort." Sting said pitying Natsu.

Natsu was about to fight back when Gray said, "you don't even remember do you? We ended up in the spirit world for three months, remember."

Natsu stopped and blinked absently, "Oh yeh, damn old beardo really knew how to party. Still, c'mon this is our spot!" Natsu yelled.

"Like hell it is!" Sting replied.

"Ugh I wish Erza was here." Lucy complained.

Ignoring the rest of them Wendy turned to Aaron. "So your part of Sabre-tooth?"

"Yup, we joined a few years back they seemed skeptical to kids joining at first but Yukino and Sting managed to convince our old guild-master." Aaron said, Grace tugged at Aaron's shirt. "Ah yes and they were quite impressed by Grace's magic."

Wendy didn't know what to say this meant that Aaron and Grace were her members of her guild's greatest rivals. She immediately felt conflicted without really knowing why. Suddenly their attention was brought back to everyone else.

Rufus spoke up, "Perhaps the best way to do this would be a duel. Each guild will choose a champion and the winner keeps the beach."

"That's fine by me, just know that we ain't gonna lose." Natsu said glaring at Sting.

"Well neither are we."

"Geehee this sounds fun maybe I should get in on this, as well."

"Hey, hey I don't want to be left out." Gray said an icy aura emanating from his body.

"Why do guys have to be so violent." Levy sighed.

"C'mon then, you guys vs us let's do this." Natsu yelled fire dripping from his fists.

"How did this turn into an all out brawl?" Lucy cried.

"Alright then, it seems like everyone wants to join in, when my hat is dropped we begin our battle." Rufus announced holding his feathered hat into the air. The auras that escaped the wizards made the beach goers flinch in fear, knowing the reputations of both guilds many had begun to back away far enough so they would be mostly safe but close enough so they would still be able to watch the fight. Rufus cast the hat into the air and it slowly drifted down. The guys were pumped the girls were less so but ready to fight if they had to.

"Gah, too long!" Gajeel, Sting and Natsu announced as they launched the first punches.

The two forces collided. Shots of Lightning, fire, ice, water, light and shadow flew in every direction as the mages began to brawl.

Wendy looked on in fear at the brawling mages the sheer savageness of the fight was terrifying even by Fairy Tail standards. Aaron and Grace who had maintained their composure and hadn't joined the brawl noticed Wendy's reaction. Aaron turned to Grace and nodded. In a smooth motion Grace's finger left her nose and she breathed in.

"You might want to cover your ears," Aaron warned Wendy. Wendy quickly put her fingers in her ears just in time to avoid the ear piercing scream Grace released. This was no ordinary scream though, magic power flooded through the sound waves effecting everyone within a mile of the small child. Instantly the brawling mages were brought to there knees clutching their ringing eardrums. Grace finally ran out of breath and closed her mouth returning her finger to it's position up her nose.

"Sting, let's go, we've caused enough trouble." Aaron said looking up at the dragon slayer. Sting looked at the boy shocked he then glanced at Wendy momentarily and grinned.

"Humph, you've grown." Sting said happily. "Guys I think we can afford to back down for once, besides there are better places to train right? But Fairy Tail, you better watch your backs at the games, cos we're coming for your first."

Sabre-tooth began to head off without any more fuss, even so they still grumbled at the interruption of the fight.

Aaron turned to Wendy, "Sorry about that, before I go I want to say that me and Grace had a great time with you today and we should totally do it again." Without warning he took Wendy's hand and planted a light kiss on the back of it causing Wendy to go bright red with shock and embarrassment. "We'll see you at the Grand Magic games." He teasingly said before running of with Grace who waved goodbye. Wendy watched him go the hand he kissed nestled in the other, I'm never going to wash this hand again she mentally decided.

"Ugh, how dare he do that who does he think he is? the cretin." Carla said as she flew above Wendy.

"Hey Carla, don't be mean." Wendy told Carla. She then turned and noticed the rest of her guilds teasing smirks. "Oh no." She whispered realising they would never let this one go. She looked as each one held a smirk of pure glee. Surprisingly none of them said anything as they watched Happy sneak up behind Wendy's ear and pull off his second favourite phrase.

"He liiiikes you!" He mockingly said in her ear causing Wendy to fall into the sand in defeat. Everyone else burst into hysterics.

(Back with Link and Erza)

Erza returned to the camp later that evening, she had decided to go for a walk to scout out the region they were staying in. She would have invited Link along too but he told her he was busy preparing their food. The surrounding area was covered in dense tropical rainforest with huge quantities of fruit and meat that they could live off. As she approached the camp she couldn't help but smell a sweet aroma heading towards her from camp. Erza knew exactly what it was and her stomach confirmed her beliefs with an excited rumble. Link's cooking. There was absolutely no doubt that Link was the best chef in Fairy Tail, after two years in the wilderness having to hunt and cook for himself he had become a fantastic cook especially with the training Piper and Henya had given him during his time in Skyloft. At first it had made Mira jealous of Link's talent but she soon warmed up to his help in the kitchens and she had learned quite a lot from him. There was no doubt that Erza was going to eat well tonight. She entered the camp and saw Link by the fire slowly spit roasting a rabbit he had caught. Just as Erza walked in Link nodded satisfied and pulled the rabbit off the spit whilst drawing a knife from his pouch. With only a few expert flicks from the knife the tender meat slipped easily of the bones and fell neatly onto two plates arranged with an assortment of fried fruits and a neat pile of rice. To top the meals off Link pulled a pan off the fire and poured a thick brown sauce over the top of the meal. Erza looked longingly at the meal with a dreamy expression.

"Are you alright Erza?" Link asked confused. Erza stomach answered before she did causing her to go bright red and hold her stomach. "Thought so, come on let's eat!" Link said holding out her plate.

"Thank you." Erza said taking the place and sitting on a log stump stool Link had made from a fallen tree. Erza took the first mouthful of the food and immediately melted in pleasure. It was as good as she had expected perhaps even better. Link smiled at the normally straight faced mage as he watched her descend into a contented bliss. The pair soon finished the meal and quickly washed their plates in the river chatting as they wondered what the rest of the group was doing right now.

Whilst washing the pans Link noticed something on the inside of the waterfall, it was glittering like a light possibly reflecting the light of the moon.

"Hey Erza do you see that?"he said pointing at the waterfall.

"See what?" Erza said confused.

"I dunno let's check it out." Link said taking her by the hand and leading her towards the waterfall. This caused Erza to blush madly as she tried to think of what to say. Before she could say anything, Link was wading into the river fully clothed.

"Hey Link wait a second. Requip Bikini." With a flash of light Erza's armour was replaced by her black bikini. Link could have feinted right there, Erza was a beautiful woman without a doubt but in a bikini she was just incredible.

Pulling himself out of his trance he said, "Oh right that's probably a good call." He pulled off his tunic armour and undershirt in one go and tossed them to the side revealing his well built body courtesy of Erza's training and his years of swordplay. Erza yelped and covered her eyes when Link started to pull off his boots and breeches. Link looked at her quizzically and Erza realised why when she looked back, underneath all his armour he was wearing a pair of dark green trunks. Erza sighed in relief but noticed Link was still looking at her quizzically.

"You okay Erz? normally you don't get so flustered with this kind of thing."

"J…just shut up and let's go already." Erza said attempting to cover herself slightly. She cursed herself, why was she feeling so self conscious normally it wasn't this bad. Was it because it was Link? Link jumped into the water and swam under the waterfall Erza followed closely behind. They both resurfaced on the inside of the waterfall and noticed there was a cave. Link pulled himself out onto the rock face and walked over to where the light was coming from. A single small crystal sat loosely on the floor of the cave. Erza walked up behind him.

"A raw lacroma." She stated, Link picked it up and nodded.

"C'mon, let's explore further in." He said looking down inside the cave. Erza nodded and followed Link into the cave. As they walked into the cave Link held out his hand.

"Din's flame." He whispered and a small flame appeared in his hand. Before it could escape and become a projectile he whispered a second spell. "Nayru's love." A blue crystal instantly formed around the flame stopping it from escaping and producing what seemed to be a small magic lantern.

"Wow, I didn't know we could do that?"

"No neither did I until a little while ago, I was playing with the spells and it just kinda happened." Link answered. They continued through the dark cave. "Hey Erza, doesn't this remind you of our first adventure." Link said.

Erza thought back there first adventure was in a cave similar to this but it was filled with nature this cave was barer but as they got deeper in there seemed to me increasing amounts of raw lacromas inserted into the walls, it did fill her with a sort of déjà vu.

"I guess it does. Less tree monsters though." Erza said calmly.

Link chuckled. "Yeh, it seems like a long time ago doesn't it."

"Well it was over six months ago. I remember you made fun of my armour," Erza said still offended.

"What? Your still holding that against me, besides I wasn't used to seeing so much of someone." Link said flustered.

"Oh really, well you seem fine now." Erza said teasingly, moving closer to Link to make him blush. She loved how she could do that.

After a moment of silence Erza spoke, "Hey Link… Have you ever kissed anyone?" She said averting her eyes from Link to hide her embarrassment.

This caused Link to panic. "W…w…what? Why are you asking that all of a sudden?" Link had been totally caught of guard.

"Well did you ever kiss her?" She repeated. Now looking at him with her stern look.

Link sighed in defeat, "Well no. We got close, numerous times, but we just couldn't do it we would stop just before it making excuses and saying we had other things to do like laundry or training but then we wouldn't talk to each other for a whole day, I think despite the whole destiny thing we may not have been meant for each other." Link paused sadly.

"You know, you never told me her name." Erza said.

"Zelda."

"I see." Erza whispered. For a while the only sound was there wet footsteps echoing through the cave.

"What about you did you ever kiss him?" Link said thinking about Jellal, Happy had once told him he saw them kiss but Link wanted to hear it from her.

"Almost, truth is I did love him and I wanted to be with him and be happy but it wasn't meant to be. We both left on very different paths and agreed that perhaps in another reality we could have had something together." Link noticed they had entered a large cavern filled with dull empty crystals.

"I see." Link remembered his promise to Jellal, the promise filled him with confidence, it was earlier than planned but Link just had to let it out. He stopped and looked at Erza.

"Erza… I like you." Erza turned round and looked into Link's azure eyes. They looked strong and resolute as if he were fighting but at the same time they were gentle and warm

"Link…" She said but Link held up his hand bent down on his knees bowing as if she were a princess.

"In fact I don't just like you, it's been blindingly obvious that… I love you..." Link stayed on his knees suddenly silent bot daring to look at her. Erza was shocked she was just about to do the same thing and here he had just suddenly confessed to her, her heart was bursting with emotions this had just come out of no where. Link loved her? She had no idea what to do so she just followed her instincts. She bent down to Link's level and put both hands on his cheeks. Link looked up and stared into her brown eyes, tears were beginning fall from her face causing his own eyes to tear up. He let her pull him in. He could feel her warm breath on his face, the softness of her hands the closeness of their lips, they tilted their heads as they approached one another.

The moment their lips connected Link felt a surge of energy like no other, no doubt Erza felt it too. All around them raw lacroma crystals had lit up, filling the room with beautiful white light. Both mages felt ecstatic the already strong bond between them sealed with the kiss. Link noticed her lips tasted sweet like strawberries, they were soft warm and inviting. He simply could not get enough. All too soon their lips parted and the couple looked into each others eyes. They couldn't think of anything to say until Link let out a laugh, Erza joined quickly and soon they were both laughing joyfully together holding each other in a perfect embrace. Soon their laughter died down and their foreheads connected lovingly.

"Link, I love you too." Erza said softly. Link heart soared at the words and tears now escaped his eyes. They both began to gently laugh again but when they stopped Link looked into Erza's eyes.

"Here Erza," Link separated their heads and reached into his trunk pocket. Out of it he produced a silver ring topped with a single ruby. "This is Gildarts' engagement ring, he asked me to use it to ask you if you would be my girlfriend." Erza immediately got all flustered.

"Wait? What are you doing? are you asking me to marry you? what… Surely it's too soon." She said panicked.

"Nononono, I'm not asking you to marry me, This is a necklace not a ring isn't it. This is a promise that I will stay with you no matter what and I will do whatever I can to make you happy, so. Erza, will you go out with me?"

Erza smiled, she was happier than she had ever been. "Of course, I will stupid." She said throwing herself at Link in a tight hug. They separated and Link put the leather cord around Erza's neck. "We can replace the cord with something more fancy if you like." Link said hoping she would like it.

She shook her head. "No, it's perfect, thank you." She said looking at him. Erza's hands were now intertwined with Link's, in joy they once again kissed. This one was just as passionate and was no less perfect than the first. With one lasting look into each others eyes Link said. "We should head out." Erza nodded happily and wiped her eyes. The pair helped each other up and began to walk towards the exit. Leaving the cave with their hands and hearts finally interlinked.


	36. Babel

**Chapter 36 - Babel**

**Well I am back with another chapter, this is the first proper chapter of the grand magic games arc so i hope you enjoy it.**

**please fave and follow for update notifications and thank you to all those who have and please leave a review because they mean the world to me. **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Fanfares and cheers filled the grand city of Crocus on the day Team Natsu walked through the mages gates. Natsu, Lucy, Gray, Wendy, Happy, Carla, Gajeel, Pantherlily, Juvia and Levy walked under the giant statues of the ancient mage lords to be greeted by the largest crowd they had ever seen. All were shocked at the turnout almost half the population of Crocus had come to greet the heroes of the last grand magic games.

Some of the group were fairly uncomfortable, Wendy for one began to walk in the centre of the group avoiding the crowds sight and Levy clung to Gajeel nervously. Others however took the greeting incredibly well Natsu and Happy paraded down the streets jovially performing tricks and dancing ridiculously. The rest of his team mates would be embarrassed if the crowd wasn't eating it up so well.

"Well, I wasn't quite expecting this, do you think it will be this busy all the way to the inn?" Carla said as she floated above Wendy.

"I guess, It's possible." Lucy said looking around at the masses of people.

A large sign was hoisted above a group of girls reading "marry us Gray!" Juvia's envious gaze instantly saw it and with a savage gleam in her eyes she quickly tore the poster to pieces with a water slicer. Once she had finished she shivered muttering something about love rivals and Gray.

"That seems a bit over the top." Lucy slightly afraid of the water mage. Her words were soon shoved in her mouth when she heard a woman call. "Natsu! I love you!" Natsu seemed to notice and looked at the woman. Lucy then understood Juvia's actions and would have done something about it until Natsu did something unexpected. He walked up to her and simply said. "I'm sorry but my heart belongs to another." He then held out his hand to Lucy who cautiously approached and took his hand. Natsu pulled her in and said, "Lucy is the only woman for me so it's best you forget about me. Good luck for the future!" He said as he walked away holding a shocked and blushing Lucy close.

"Tch, freakin' playboy." Gajeel complained causing Levy to give him a stern look.

Gray who had stayed fairly silent throughout the parade noticed some incredibly well done Erza cosplayers looking rather disappointed. "I wonder what Erza would have thought of that?" He said nodding his head towards them.

Gajeel laughed, "she'd either be incredibly flattered or end up yell at them for the state their armour is in."

"I guess they must be pretty disappointed Link and Erza aren't here." Wendy said.

"Well I don't think many of them even know who Link is yet." Carla finished.

"Hey have you guys noticed they've been kinda distant and secretive lately?" Levy asked

"Yeh I noticed that," Lucy said from the front.

"Hmm, I wonder why?" Wendy said before the topic was bypassed and the group decided to get to the inn as fast as possible.

(…)

Erza and Link were currently entering through a different gate, In order to get a little bit of extra training in they had decided to leave later than the rest of the team. It also gave Link and Erza a chance to have a bit more alone time before they rejoined the guild. Link who had never seen a city so big was taking in all the sights and sounds. Crocus was called the blooming capital for a reason. Everywhere he looked there were flowers: in boxes, in plant pots, in the parks, growing out of cracks in the road, literally everywhere they could find a foothold. An overwhelming floral scent covered the city and Link loved breathing in every ounce of it. Erza chuckled at Link as he childishly toddled around the street smiling at passersby and taking in his surroundings. Erza quickly sidled up to Link and took his hand.

"C'mon I want to show you something." She said happily leading him down the street.

The couple soon arrived at a small café just off the main street they were on. It was named Crocus cakes.

"This, is the second best cake shop I have ever been too." Erza said proudly. As she presented it to her boyfriend.

"Second best?" Link said with a confused look.

"Well it's better than the patisserie in Akane and I'm pretty loyal to Magnolia's cake shop so therefore this is the second best."

"You've got a top ten cake shops don't you…" Link sweat-dropped.

"Of course, I have visited every cake shop in Fiore and this is definitely the second best. C'mon they do the nicest strawberry shortcakes." She said pulling him into the shop.

The pair quickly ordered and sat across from each other in the corner of the café. As Erza ate her cake with finesse Link sat playing with his banoffee pie. Erza noticed this.

"Hey, Link what's up?" She asked.

"Ha, nothing gets past you does it?" Link laughed, Erza looked at him with a slight frown. "I guess I'm a little nervous, no one knows we're dating yet and I have no idea how I'm going to tell them. Or what everyone's reactions are going to be."

Erza smiled sweetly, "hey, Link do you really think our guild, our family will not give us their blessing. They love us as much as we love them so I think we will be fine."

Link smiled back at Erza, "Your right. Sorry I was just…"

"Just eat your pie." Erza said. Link nodded and took a mouthful. The instant it touched is tongue he gasped. "Sweet Hylia this is so good."

"I know right! Here try the shortcake," Erza said offering a forkful of her cake to Link, Link let her feed him and sighed in delight. Erza smiled at his childishly content face, happy she had found someone to share her cakes with.

(…)

The sun was setting when Link and Erza reached the inn Fairy Tail were staying at, just like last year it was a modest establishment but large enough to fill their needs. Still it seemed quiet, too quiet.

"Hey erz, you sure this is the right place?" Link said uncomfortable with the silence.

"I don't know but there is a way to…" before Erza could finish there was an almighty crash as Jet flew through the inn's doors and landed in his butt in front of Link and Erza.

He immediately got up and yelled, "why you! I'll get you for that Bickslow." Bickslow chuckled as he threw a chair at Jet whilst continuing to brawl with the other mages of Fairy Tail.

"Nothings changed huh?" Link said making Jet turn around after punching through the chair. "Hey you guys are back! Long time no see. Yo everyone, It's Link and Erza!" Jet yelled. There was an immediate cheer and Jet dragged the pair inside where they greeted all of their friends.

"Hey, Erza you finally made it!" Natsu called hanging from a chandelier preparing to drop down on Gray.

"You're right Link nothing's changed at all." Erza laughed before heading to the bar where Makarov was sat watching his children play.

"Ah, Erza, Link your back how was your little romantic retreat." Makarov teased, instantly both warriors blushed far more than they should have. "Ah it went well I see, well then how about your training? I've already heard from Natsu and Gray how they did but what about you?"

"Our training went fantastically we are both fit for the games should you decide to choose us master." Erza said confidently.

"I see, well there is no use in keeping the guild waiting. Everyone we are about to select Fairy tails team for this year." Makarov called over the guild. None of them listened and continued to brawl loudly.

Makarov then got angry. "Can you brats keep your damned fists to yourself for one minute!" He yelled. Immediately the guild stopped mid-brawl and stood silently looking at Makarov. "Now we will be selecting the members who will be competing in this years grand magic games. So I want you all to pay attention." The guild stopped brawling and all stood ready to listen to Makarov's decision.

"Right, due to the events of last year they have reverted to the rule where only five mages per guild may compete. These five mages are to be in their designated guild inns by midnight tonight. Now that you are all here I will tell you who I have chosen to represent our guild. The first member, and I'm sure you will all agree, will be Laxus." Everyone murmured their agreement that one of Fairy Tails strongest S class mages would be chosen.

"Laxus, you will act as the leader of the team, you will be the one to lead us to victory." Makarov finished. Laxus nodded at his grandfather accepting his role. The guild cheered heartily before Makarov silenced them again.

"Alright next, due to her fantastic performance last year Erza will take second in command." The guild cheered again congratulating the red headed mage. Link gave a thumbs up to her and she smiled.

"I wont let you down, any of you." She said to the guild.

"Hmm I don't doubt it, now the last three are harder, you are all fantastic mages but using both the calculations of the first and I think the overall view of the guild, the last three members will be… Natsu, Gray and Link." The guild roared in approval some were disappointed but clapped anyway, some like Lucy and Wendy sighed in relief. Link felt many pats on the back. He honestly was not expecting to be chosen but was glad that he had been. He looked around at his team mates and all of them had smiles across their faces, even Laxus who nodded at Link.

"Alright alright settle down," Makarov said again. "As well as our five participants we do also need reserve members in case one of ours gets too injured. These will be, Elfman, Freed, Wendy, Gajeel and Juvia. Do remember both the reserves and team can change depending on circumstance so I trust that all of you are ready to play your part. Now as you all know we won last year and now we have a bright red target pinned to our backs, this year will not be easy but I know you and I know us and there is no doubt that Fairy Tail will remain victorious!" Makarov finished punching his fist into the air as the rest of the guild cheered and yelled over confident boasts. "Now the five competitors should head upstairs for the first brief. I'll join you in just a moment." Makarov said. The five of them nodded adopting serious looks and began to head upstairs after being congratulated by the rest of the guild.

(…)

Link and Erza were the first upstairs and managed to talk quietly before the other three came up.

"I guess we didn't have time to tell anyone huh?" Link said.

"There will be plenty of opportunity maybe when we get back after the event." Erza replied.

The door soon opened and an excited Natsu bounded in. "Yo, guys what ya talking about?"

Erza and Link looked at each other nervously, "we'll tell you later." Erza said causing Natsu to frown in worry. This was soon bypassed as Laxus, Gray and Makarov entered the room.

"So what's the first challenge gramps? Do we have to fight something? Is it a hundred guild brawl? I'm up for anything!" Natsu said excitedly.

"Ah cool down would ya, pinky." Gray said looking bored.

"Nah, shut up ice brain!" Natsu bit back.

"Shut it both of you before you get me involved, let the old man speak." Everyone looked at the usually silent Laxus who was flickering with electricity and staring the pair down.

"Thank you Laxus, now listen up you five, we don't know what the first challenge is but I have heard some interesting rumours. This first task will test your physical strength and endurance, there may be combat but we don't know. You are the most resourceful mages we have so I'm sure whatever comes up you can deal with it. Just make sure you don't fight amongst yourselves that will surely lead to defeat." Makarov said looking at Natsu and Gray. "Now Laxus is the leader so make sure you listen to him and trust his judgement." Natsu and Gray shifted uncomfortably but Erza knowing his strength and intelligence nodded resolutely. Link took her stance as well, although he had had next to no contact with him he could tell Laxus would make the best leader. "Right I'll leave you there then the first task starts in a few hours so I suggest you come up with a game plan." Makarov said as he left.

Before anyone could say anything that could cause friction Erza said, "so Laxus what's the plan."

Everyone then turned to the dragon slayer. "Alright, so we've been chosen because other than Gildarts who is out on a decade mission we are the toughest Fairy Tail has. As you can tell all our magic is geared towards attack especially mine and Natsu's so we will be relying on the rest of you for support and stuff."

"That makes sense." Gray added, "you two can control energy but not physical matter."

"That's right?" Laxus said gruffly. "We should be fine so long as we keep our heads out of the clouds." Laxus glared at Natsu. "Now other than this for the first challenge we can't make much of a plan until we see what the challenge is. However at this stage it is best to avoid any combat with other guilds and focusing on finishing the task quickly however since we are the prime target we will need defence. Link your abilities in magic defence will prove useful so I want you to help defend us from sneak attacks and projectiles. Gray you can help him here. Then me Erza and Natsu will move on to sweep the attackers before they attack again before continuing with what ever the task is. The other thing is Link I want you to be our secret weapon that means through out this mission I want you to remain hidden." Laxus pulled a brown cloak out of the chest, "stick this on and make sure your face is hidden from any lacrocameras. This is another reason why I don't want you attacking anyone and revealing your abilities. In fact it would probably be better if you found a way to make your sword invisible."

"I can put my sword and shield in my adventure pouch if it helps I'll have to make room though." Link said as he pulled out his slingshot and a divine shield he hadn't used in ages.

He then hid the master sword and hylian shield in the pouch.

"Good we should be fine then." Laxus said walking to the door. "One last thing…" Laxus turned to face the other four. "You mess up for us, I will personally send you hell," Laxus then left the room and closed the door loudly.

"Just when I thought he liked us." Gray sighed.

"I don't think he hates us really." Link decided to himself.

"No he doesn't hate us, he respects our strength. Besides we are his family." Erza told them all.

(…)

Just before midnight the new Team Fairy Tail congregated on the roof silently looking over the currently dark city of Crocus. The palace stood out like a shadow against the moon. The rest of the guild were coming out onto a balcony to witness the first task. Their noise seemed to tick Laxus off, he knew that most of the guild were totally drunk by now. He sighed and focused on the mission ahead. He looked left and right at the strongest members of Fairy tail who were flanking him. Erza and Gray like him were silent and prepared, ready for whatever the games were going to throw at them. Link stood silently with his hooded cloak shrouding his face in darkness, from what Laxus had heard about him from the first master he would be a fantastic benefit to the team. Finally there was Natsu who was currently in a state of sheer childish excitement but was still releasing a terrifying magic pressure that resonated with the rest of the team. Laxus grinned he had no doubt this team was going to bring them to victory.

After a single moment the entire city of Crocus lit up with golden lights and the city cheered excited for the first event of the Grand Magic Games. Lacroma-screens flickered to life all over the city revealing the pumpkin face of the grand magic games mascot Mato.

"Welcome, welcome Ladies and gentlemen to Fiore's eighth Grand Magic Games, kabo!" He called. Fireworks went off all over the city covering it in every colour of light. "Now as you know this is the event where all Fiore's guilds compete to find out which is the number one guild, kabo. Last year ended with the incredible victory of Fairy Tail the number one guild of eight years ago as well as today, kabo. This year there are 161 guilds all fighting to knock the mighty Fairy Tail down from their throne. But to do this the guilds must possess strength, intelligence, teamwork and most of all willpower. Do you think you can do it, kabo?" Mato asked causing every other guild to roar tremendously filling the city with sound. Fairy tail stood resolute, Link felt his stomach flip fighting monsters was fine but to have every mage in the country after you was more than a bit daunting.

"Well it looks like Fairy Tail has some competition, kabo! I think it is time to reveal the first challenge on the climb to the number one guild, kabo. So let me reveal to you… BABEL, KABO!" With a flash of light and the shaking of the Earth thousands of magical seals opened up all over the city. When the light faded an enormous thick pillar stood over the capital city. It stood on thousands of smaller curved pillars that were rooted next to each guild's starting point.

"This, kabo, is Babel the 5 mile tall tower to the heaven's, the task for all you guilds is quite simply to reach the top. The fastest eight guilds will move on to the rest of the games, all the other guilds will be eliminated, kabo." Mato said this with a sinister undertone shadows appearing around his eyes.

"Let's go." Laxus everyone nodded and they all jumped onto the curved pillar that headed towards the massive central tower.

Mato continued. "However this task is not as simple as that, first of all this is no simple tower and is covered with all kinds of tricks and traps, kabo. The other thing you should know is that if any participant moves down the tower more than five metres the guild the participant is part of will be immediately eliminated also every guild will be bound together by this magic unbreakable tether, magic rope appeared around the waists of fairy tail the rope linked all five mages together with only a few metres between them. Laxus was on one end followed by Erza and Natsu with Gray and Link at the other end.

"This just keeps getting better doesn't it." Gray complained.

"Finally, Kabo, we will not be held responsible for any deaths caused by Babel. Ready, set KABO!" Every guild began to head towards the tower. The wiser guilds, including Fairy Tail had set off long before Mato had said go and were already making good headway whilst planning for the climb.

"Any ideas how we are going to do this." Laxus asked.

"We could punch out hand holds." Natsu suggested setting his fists on fire.

"Ice make, Picks!" Gray shouted producing a pair of climbing picks.

"Better." Laxus said.

"I've got my clawshots, they will essentially work like picks." Link suggested bringing out his clawshots.

"I can use my swords but Link why don't we use Airya." Erza asked.

"Well, I doubt she can carry the five of us for very long and this is a climbing challenge don't you think they will have something in place to stop flyers." Link said looking up at the tower, from where they were it seemed plain and empty but all five of them knew better.

"Even so a giant bird would help if one of us falls." Laxus yelled back. They were quickly reaching the tower now.

"Fair point, hold on." Link pulled out a small statue from his pack, it was a a statue of a small loftwing, it's tail and neck had holes in them. Link blew in the tail hole and a sweet melody filled the air. Soon after the Crimson Loftwing could be seen flying towards them. By the time they reached the tower it was circling above them Link shouted what he wanted her to do before they all prepared for the long climb ahead of them.

"Right Link and Gray you have ways of making hand holds so you head up first and make the hand holes, remember focus on speed, me, Natsu and Erza will take out any thing that comes our way. If it comes to it you can use that crystal shield spell you use but try not to use anything else." Laxus ordered. Link nodded and equipped his clawshots. Punching the wall he managed to make successful footholds in order to pull himself up. Thanks to a boost from Gray, Link quickly managed to set up the first foot holds for the others. Gray quickly followed using his ice picks to hoist himself up. Very soon the team was making good and quick progress up the tower, at this point there were no obstacles the wall was just flat. Link chanced a glance down and noticed some guilds had only just made it whilst others had no idea how to begin to scale the tower. Even so the number of guilds starting the climb was increasing. Link realised what the problem would be with the bottom of the tower. There were far more guilds and as predicted all of them were looking for Fairy Tail. Fortunately they were ahead but it wouldn't be long until they would be attacked.

"Link, focus on the climb let us worry about them" Erza said sternly. Link nodded and turned his gaze up.

Laxus could see a guild to the left, deciding to stick with the tactics he chose, he decided to ignore them and ensure that his team was making good headway. Then again if they were foolish enough to attack them Laxus would make sure they were blasted to oblivion. Laxus looked up and noticed Natsu was looking eager as if he were asking for them to attack him. All of a sudden he heard from the left.

"That's them, it's Fairy Tail."

"What are we waiting for let's get them!"

The team launched two attacks one appeared to be a stream of paper the other was a fire ball.

"Natsu, deal with it."

Natsu breathed in heavily and the fireball picked up speed and fell into his mouth.

"Fire Dragon's Roar!" He yelled after and all the paper burned to a crisp.

Soon after Laxus held out a hand and shouted. "Lightning blast!" A discharge of electricity left his palm and struck the entire of the other team causing them to let go of the wall and fall. After five metres a magic portal opened below them and all five members were eliminated.

"So that's what happens if you fall, I guess that isn't so bad." Gray said as he continued to climb.

"Bah, it's not going to be us who falls it'll be them." Natsu yelled confidently.

"In any case we need to pick up the pace come on we don't have till morning." Laxus said. He felt a presence on his back and suddenly realised there was an entire guild flying.

"Damn it," Laxus cursed, he was about to loose a thunderbolt but Laxus spotted saw Link's giant bird descending on them dodging all kinds of projectiles thrown at him with expert aerial skills. The loftwing soon reached them and clawed at them causing them to lose concentration and drop.

"Hmm, maybe that's not such a bad idea. Hey Link get your loftwing to pull down some of the other guilds, keep him close though." Laxus yelled.

"Right!" Link yelled before relaying the order to the bird.

Team Natsu were now around a third of the way up, for the time being they were doing fine but Link predicted they would soon get tired from the long climb. It seemed to Link that the guilds were definitely thinning out and no doubt only the strongest guilds were remaining. Link was sure everyone was wondering where the other major guilds were around the pillar.

Link thrust his clawshot into the wall and quickly noticed there was something different about this bit. It was rotating.

"Guys this part of the tower is spinning this is not going to be easy to get onto."

"Just do your best Link, you can come up with something." Erza encouraged, Link smiled upon hearing her voice, knowing she was close comforted him. "I guess we could just power through and hope for the best or gray could make some kinda platform to help."

"Could do that." Gray let go of one ice pick and placed his hand on the tower, "ice make ledge!" He yelled, an ice ledge appeared almost twenty metres away from them on the spinning part of the tower it was slowly approaching. He followed this up with, "ice make ladder!" A ladder appeared on the ledge long enough for even Laxus at the bottom to reach. "Grab on when it gets close enough then we can use the same tactics as before. The team nodded and once the ladder was close enough they made the jump and quickly scrambled onto the ledge.

"Wait a minute this thing is… Moving." Instantly Natsu barfed a little in his mouth and he went soggy halfway up the ladder.

"Oh you have got to be…argl." Laxus said also succumbing to the motion sickness.

"Erza what's going on!" Link asked.

"Natsu and Laxus both get motion sickness." She shouted back disgusted that she was in between the two broken dragon slayers.

"Damn, right we'll have to use Airya to bypass this bit but I don't know how high she will be able to carry us. Gray make a perch so she can land."

"Right," gray did so whilst Erza pushed Natsu onto the ledge whilst pulling up an ashamed Laxus. Link pulled out the loftwing call and soon after the giant bird swung round the tower and landed on the perch.

"Just try and get us as high as possible girl." Link said as he jumped onto the bird. Gray and Erza dragged the dragon-slayers onto the bird and then Airya set off. "Just don't go down more than five metres at a time." Link finished. The bird seemed strained but compared to Erza luggage this wasn't too bad. With two heavy wing beats they were airborne, Natsu and Laxus soon came out of their stupor.

"A word of this to anyone," Laxus said grumpily.

"There's no need." Erza said pointing to a lacrocamera laxus in a fit of rage shot the camera down with a bolt of lightning causing Link to chuckle. They ascended past the spinning section of the tower and reached the final third, this section was completely empty guild wise which the team took as a good sign but trouble quickly brewed. This section seemed to have a lot more obstacles then the lower levels and one of these was the addition of huge cannons set into the side of the tower.

"Link, shot coming in at 9 o clock." Erza yelled, Link quickly guided Airya out of the and was forced to descend a little way.

"Try not to do that again." Laxus shouted. As he saw more shots coming starting to take the form of a barrage, "intercept!" Everyone except Link fired at the projectiles taking out as many as they could whilst Link and Airya's masterful flying skills avoided the rest.

"We can't keep this up for much longer especially if we cant go down. Airya's getting tired."

"Right we'll make for the wall." Erza shouted knocking down a huge ice shard that was headed their way. Airya flew closer to the wall but the pressure of the cannons couldn't let her get any closer than she already was

"Gray, make a ledge." Natsu shouted,

"I can't flame brain it's too far away for me to make one good enough."

"You'll have to do it mid jump." Erza yelled.

"Are you crazy?" Natsu and Gray said together.

"Just trust her." Link said

"Alright three, two, one, Jump!" Laxus ordered, all five of them pushed off the bird and headed towards the tower, Link pulled out his two clawshots and shot them into the wall fortunately they hooked on. Gray cast the spell and the team landed on the icy ledge, all except one Laxus being on the end had the least room to land and managed to slip on the ice. He cursed and she slid of the edge falling onto his front and pulling Erza down with him he managed to grip the slippery surface with one hand. Laxus realised they were nearing the 5m limit as a bright blue magic circle opened up beneath him ready to suck him and his team into it.

Link felt the tug as the heaviest member of the team and the armoured Erza began to slip away. "Natsu, Gray catch Erza and pull now." Link shouted, unceremoniously the duo managed to catch Erza and using their combined strength as well as having to freeze their feet in place. Soon they successfully hauled Laxus onto the icy ledge.

"You alright Laxus?" Natsu asked.

"Yeh, yeh I'll be fine, race remember we can't stop." He said out of breath. Everyones hands and feet were hurting now but they decided to continue before the icy ledge gave way and continued climbing.

"We must be almost there." Natsu gasped his arms were growing weaker.

"We should be, it's getting to morning already," Erza pointed out, they all noticed the sky was getting much lighter Although the sun was yet to come up.

"We must have been at this at least four hours. You sure we are going to get there on time?" Gray asked.

"They would have told us if the game was over we still have time. Who knows maybe the other guilds are having the same problems as us." Laxus said grumpily.

"Hey guys." Link called down worriedly.

"Ugh what now, I'm tired of this I just wanna fight someone." Natsu cried.

"Urm well lava." Link replied.

"Wait what?" Everyone called.

"Lava above us, right I'm going sideways to avoid it." Link said. As he moved to the side sure enough they saw lava dribbling down the side of the tower. As fast as possible Link moved to the side with everyone following, the lava laxus had just reached the corner as the embers were getting far too close for comfort.

"Wait guys I can see the top!" Natsu cheered, "there's another guild above us."

"Guys we gotta get there before them they could be the eighth team." Gray called.

"Right then let's move, Erza see if you can't slow them down." Laxus said grinning.

Erza summoned three blades and sent them catapulting towards the other guild. The three swords were met by three bolts of magic, one of shadow one of light and one of black lightning. Natsu saw this and gasped. "You have got to be kidding me. It's Sabre-tooth." Sabre-tooth seemed to realise who was on their tails and so Orga and Sting let loose some attacks that rocketed down. "Link, Erza use the defence." Laxus yelled.

The pair immediately complied and yelled. "Nayru's love." The crystal shell formed and the attacks bounced off. Link and Erza released the magic and allowed Laxus, Gray and Natsu to unleash their own attacks. The effort was futile as sabre-tooth managed to put up their own shield.

"Damn it there going to beat us," Sabre-tooth held up their defence and continued to climb as Fairy Tail launched magic at them futilely. Fairy tail quickly caught up but it was too late. The first member of sabre-tooth pulled themselves to the top of the tower just as Link got into reaching distance of their last member Rufus who tipped his hat as he was pulled over the pillar. Link had no choice but to finish the climb moderately disappointed that Sabre-tooth just managed to beat them. The feeling of pulling himself over the top was nothing less than amazing, he turned back to pull his team mates up then looked around at the top of the tower. Sabre-tooth were in exactly the same state as Fairy tail as well as another three guilds who must have already placed, they were all sprawled out in exhaustion as the sun rose above them.

"Holy crap, we made it." Gray gasped.

"Aye, we did well." Erza said also out of breath. Laxus grunted in approval before they lay in peace.

"Hey, Hey this is no time to rest, kabo." Mato said appearing over the top of the almost unconscious team interrupting them loudly. "You managed to place, 5th just after sabre-tooth so congratulations, kabo. Now get ready because the entrance ceremony will be this afternoon, kabo"

"Nah get lost you stupid pumpkin head let me sleep." Natsu said exhausted.

Link slowly crawled over to Erza and lay next to her there foreheads touched as they fell asleep together.


	37. Domus Flau

**Chapter 37 - Domus Flau**

**Released 12/7/15**

**I'm back, finally. It's been too long since i've posted a chapter so here it is. Fortunately the hiatus was probably worth it and i'm glad i did it. Because now i have all kinds of ideas for the future of the fic and has allowed me to write ahead a little. I don't know how long the grand magic games arc will end up but as you can probably tell it will be very fight based so i will try and keep it interesting i promise. **

**Also for a long time now i have been working on my second fanfiction which has now been uploaded. It is a pokémon fanfiction i have released to celebrete my long awaited completion of the nationaldex. It is called 'the Birth of a Champion' and is my interpretation of the origin story of the champion Cynthia from the forth gen games. It would mean the world to me if you gave it a read because i have been very exited to see what people think of it.**

**Please fave and follow if you haven't already and please review because it really helps. I would still like to hear your ideas for the fanfiction so please if you have any review or pm me. **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Crocus' grand arena of Domus Flau was filled to the brim with cheering fans, under the watchful gaze of the mighty wizard lords the crowds shuddered with glee and anticipation for the event that was the Grand Magic Games Opening Ceremony.

"Welcome everybody once again for the grand opening of the eighth annual Grand Magic Games!" A voice boomed over the crowd. He was quickly drowned out by the mighty cheers of the crowd.

"I am Chapati Lola and is once again an honour to be acting as host for this prestigious event." Lacroma screens appeared all over the stadium allowing everyone to see Chapati's face, today he was wearing long green hair that cascaded down his back, and it was no longer a secret that this man wore wigs to hide his baldness so now he simply went all out with his style choices.

"To my right is my faithful main commentator once again back after last year's events, it's the wonderful Yajima!"

A short old man stood up on his chair and gave a bow. "It is more than a pleasure to be here, I am sure the competition will be hotter as my kitchen this year." He said with a grin.

"Oh yes it will be, I'm sure none of you could forget the incredible conclusion to last year's Grand Magic Games, with none other than the underdog's Fairy Tail taking back the title of Fiore's strongest mage guild. But of course now everyone is out to get them, every guild has a single thing on their mind and that is Fairy Tail's utter annihilation in this year's event."

Supporters of every other guild roared in approval.

Fairy Tail who was sat in their private box just grinned as if to say bring it on.

"Wow they really want to take us down this year huh?" Cana said looking around.

"Ah we'll be okay Fairy Tail are Men!" Elfman yelled.

"Shut up you oaf." Evergreen said from next to him.

"Quiet brats this is it." Makarov ordered, he caught a glimpse of a short woman with blonde hair at the back of the stadium. "Hmm so she is here, I guess she has her reason for not sitting with us." He whispered under his breath.

Chapati continued "Now, I am quite certain you all know the results of last night's preliminary round, Babel where 161 guilds competed to make it into that elite 8. Today those elite guilds are going to be presented to you all so buckle your belts as we introduce this year's top eight magic guilds."

The crowd roared and fireworks went off the sheer noise made the stadium rumble.

"So our first guild is certainly a regular to the grand magic games and is by far one of the strongest competitors, would you please put your hands together for Lamia Scale!"

The crowd cheered and out of one of the gates walked five mages all of them dancing and producing magic.

"Now Lamia scale has produced a team with a mix of the old and new. The leader of this year's team is the incredibly talented ice mage Lyon Vastia who is taking over from Jura of the ten wizard saints this year. Too his left is the ever cute god slayer, Chelia Blendy and to his right is none other than Yuka Suzuki the user of wave magic." Chelia held up her hands in greeting earning a cheer from the crowd. Yuka looked on his eyes sharp.

"Wow, Chelia's as confident as ever isn't she," Wendy said in awe she remembered how terrifying it was last year walking out there.

"Now for Lamia scales two new additions to the team first is the stunningly beautiful rising star Lisa Wells and her partner in crime, the bomb man, it's Wake!"

The two new members followed behind the rest, Wake, a black haired man with a rough jagged beard, he grinned confidently as he surveyed the arena. Lisa was in a smoking hot white bikini her deep green hair tied into a thick plait and ran down her chest. The men in the arena were heart struck at the stunning woman who rivalled even Mira and Jenny in sheer beauty. Wake noticed this asserting his dominance over the men by giving the woman a kiss.

"Well how about that folks Lamia scale make quite the entrance. What did you think Yajima?"

"Lamia Scale have proved in the past they are a guild to be feared I have no doubt this is the year they will decide to prove it."

"Quite, right now we should move on to the next guild to make it to the top please welcome, Blue Pegasus!"

The crowd once again roared, especially the women who all held up banners decorated with the faces of the Trimen and Ichiya.

"This team has no especially new additions but they are all old favourites so please put your hands together for Eve, Hibiki, Ren, Ichiya and the previous miss Fiore Jenny!" The crowd roared and the five mages simply walked in before all striking a powerful pose showing off how good looking each one was. The crowd cheered even louder.

"Now for a guild who skipped out of last year's competition but has proven to be a force to be reckoned with in the past please welcome, Phoenix Grave!"

Five mages walked out of the gate with each member exuding powerful auras.

"Now I am sure you will all remember four of these powerful mages but we will make no hesitation in introducing them. Leading the team as usual is the most good looking, the most handsome, Mace Orlando!"

The tallest man among them raised his head he had slicked back sandy blonde hair and a smirk of confidence in both himself and his team. The women swooned over the man the instant they made eye contact.

Cana's eyes burst open, holy crap that guy is hot, she almost said out loud, she made a note to make sure she bumped into him later.

"With him are the three knights of valour, Astrid of the sword, Yew of the sea, and David of the sky!" The three walked together Astrid had long grey hair, a huge two handed cleaver sat on her back and she was clad in dark leather armour. Yew had wavy aquamarine hair that reached her shoulders and deep green eyes she wore a long blue dress that seemed to flow like water. The third knight was young, he had white spiky hair and purple eyes in. A unique style he was simply wearing a black t shirt with moving images of stars and galaxies on them.

"The final member of phoenix grave is new to the guild but not new to the Grand Magic games, it's Flare Corona." Flare was nervously walking next to her new companions but was comforted that the crowd was still cheering despite her record.

Fairy tail was shocked but Makarov soon calmed them down he could tell she was different. Flare caught Lucy's eyes and creepily whispered "blondie?" Which sent chills down the celestial mage's spine.

"Now a team that surprisingly came fourth this year and is the guild that had the crown knocked of their heads, ready for round two its Sabre-tooth!" A much louder roar than before erupted from the crowd as the five members took the stage.

"Now you should know all but one of the members of Sabre-tooth this year. Leading the party once again are the twin dragons who put on a stellar performance last year the amazing Sting and Rouge." The two dragons entered the arena and instantly a new pressure was felt over the crowd from the sheer power of their magic, this just caused them to cheer more.

"Wait? Isn't Sting the guild leader now?" Lucy asked,

"Well, my dear I believe they have bent the rules slightly and temporarily made someone else guild master." Makarov said looking over to the Sabre-tooth box.

The crowd cheered incredibly loud, Frosch and Lector jumped up and down in their box. Yukino smiled at their antics as she sat in an almost throne like chair.

"The next two both also back for revenge on Fairy Tail are Rufus and Orga."

The crowd roared again. "Do you think they ever stop cheering?" Orga said waving.

"Ha, I have no memory of it, they will be hoarse by the end of the week." Rufus chuckled.

"The final debuting member to Team sabre-tooth is probably the youngest member they have, still he has made quite the name for himself around Fiore so give it up for Aaron Helm."

"No way!" Wendy and Carla said, sure enough the redheaded boy from the beach over a month ago strode boldly into the arena along with his friends. "He's strong enough to make it on to Sabre-tooth's team," Wendy began to blush when he turned his head to Fairy Tail's box. Carla sighed. Suddenly something else seemed to draw Aaron's attention he looked over to Chelia in Lamia Scale with a bemused look on his face. Wendy noticed Chelia also blushed and turned away. Wendy's heart fluttered she grabbed it not knowing what was going on.

"Now this the team you have all been waiting for, they came fifth in the preliminary round but we know that none of you have any doubts of their strength, ladies and gentlemen it's time to reveal the strongest guild in Fiore here comes Team Fairy Tail!" The crowd roared louder than ever, Fairy Tail included, as the five strongest mages of Fairy Tail entered the arena. Their faces were resolute and their statures were strong.

"Now if you don't know who is walking out that door right now you are a fool. Leading this year's team is none other than Laxus Dreyar." Laxus thrust his hand to the sky and lightning began to shoot out. "And next to him is the incredible ice make wizard Gray Fullbuster and the hero of last year's dragon attack, Natsu Dragneel!" The crowd gave an enormous roar as they too held up their hands to release their magic's joining with Laxus'. The magic seemed to come together and very quickly moulded into the insignia of Fairy Tail causing the crowd to gasp.

"Here she is supposedly the best woman in Fiore with a blade it's Erza scarlet." Erza requiped into her heaven's wheel armour and flung swords into the air until they surrounded the guild mark in swords.

"And the final member of Team Fairy Tail and no doubt their secret weapon debuting this year, everybody meet Link!" The cheers for Link were much quieter as he walked into the arena covered in his dirty hooded cloak. He smirked underneath the hood the rush of the arena filling him. He had never seen so many people and rather than getting stage fright all he could feel was excitement as to proving what he could do. He noticed him and his team were receiving some harsh glances, Laxus wasn't kidding they were all out to get them.

Chapati had to wait for the crowd to die down before he could introduce the next guild and it took quite some time.

"Well then the next guild is our favourite all female guild lead by the scarily strong Kagura its Mermaid Heel."

The five women representing Mermaid Heel all walked out looking bold.

"Grand Magic game regulars Milliana, Arana and Risley are joining her as well as another debuting member the mysterious Iris."

Link and Erza quickly swiped their heads around at the name. Link's eyes met Iris's as she curtly nodded her face ambiguous and unreadable under the traditional sheikah bandages.

"I was wondering when we would next see her." Erza said.

"Hmm, I was wondering what she was up to, I'm surprised she ended up joining a guild." Link answered back pondering what her motives for being here could be.

"Hmm, yes the members of Mermaid Heel are looking tougher than ever just like all the guilds here, so far it is looking to be quite the competition this year." Yajima pondered.

"Ah yes I absolutely agree, but there are two more guilds left to introduce the both of which are debuting in the grand magic games, first up, it seems after a total reform the once dark guild Insignia has changed its colours and made it to the top of the food chain." Only some of the crowd cheered as the five walked out of the gates but all five members were smiling and waving.

Link looked round and nodded at Roran who was leading the pack of mages.

"Now these mages are all new to the games so please give them a warm welcome, leading them is the earth mage Roran and next to him is his beautiful girlfriend Cryse." The crowd began to cheer louder and Cryse spread her wings. Roran grinned looking around the arena.

"The three members behind them are Hero, Linebeck and the most recent addition to the guild Azuma." The guild cheered louder now but Erza turned in shock. She caught eyes of Azuma, he was tall and incredibly muscular, his dark face matched his dark brown dreadlocks. He grinned at Erza and nodded, Erza just watched as he walked past.

"Someone you know?" Link asked,

"Aye, I fought him once on Tenrou Island when he was in a dark guild called grimoire heart, he almost beat me." Erza said.

Link was interrupted when Chapati spoke up again. "And last but not least is another debuting guild that was formed recently their name is as shadowy as their nature here comes, Dragon's Shadow!"

The final guild walked out of the gates. The whole of Fairy tail gasped when they saw who was among them, Erza looked over to Azuma to see that he was also shocked.

"Among Dragon's shadow are the Mages, Vaati, Puldrek, Stefan, Zancrow and Rustyrose."

The five mages walked through the arena to their positions, Vaati was a tiny imp of a man with purple skin and pointy ears, he could easily be mistaken for a child despite his bearings as an adult. Puldrek walked aside his beast who had also entered the arena. He looked over to insignia and scoffed at the look Roran was giving him. Stefan had short black hair and was wearing glasses and a lab coat he looked around the other competitors with a keen watchful eye which ended up resting on Link. The other two were known by members of Fairy Tail and Azuma as former members of the dark guild Grimoire Heart, Natsu grimaced whilst looking at Zancrow. Zancrow noticed and gave him an evil looking smirk.

"And so that is it, you are now looking at the forty mages who will be competing in the eighth grand magic games and don't they all look powerful. It is anybody's guess who will take victory but there is no doubt that whoever it is will have to work hard to get there, join us tomorrow for the first day of games where we will reveal this year's set up." The crowd cheered once again as the mages began to file out.

(…)

Gray's fist smashed through the table, "what the hell is going on? How have not one but five dark guild mages made it into the games?"

"Gray, your shirt?" Cana pointed out from behind a mug of ale.

"You never know Gray maybe they are changed people." Lucy said trying to diffuse him, she was not surprised he was angry after what Grimoire Heart had done to everyone. She was on edge that Puldrek was in the games, it had taken three of them to beat him and his monster last time.

"And Gray, did you see how Azuma and Rustyrose looked at each other, it is quite obvious they no longer agree on certain things." Erza stated.

"Besides, if Roran trusts him enough to let them join his guild then I think we can assume he is safe." Link joined in, Gray grunted as he subconsciously removed his trousers.

"Well, personally I don't really mind it, it's about time I showed that god slayer punk a thing or two." Natsu said smashing his flaming fists together.

"The thing we should be worried about is the rest of the new guild, we know three of them already have a bad track record." Mira said worried. The guild's concerns began to build as voices were raised.

"Alright brats, let's not get worked up over this, this is hardly as bad as Raven Tail was last year. For now we will simply observe their actions. If Dragon's Shadow turns out to be shady we will act but otherwise we should treat them like any other opponent." Makarov surmised. "Anyway enough of this talk of darkness we're meant to be having a party aren't we come on we made it through the preliminaries!"

Everyone cheered for their team and began to once again make merry and discuss the predictions on what was going to happen in the next few days. The air of excitement building just waiting to flourish into a famous Fairy Tail brawl.

Link during all the loudness sat quietly in his chair, despite the fact that Gray and Natsu had so much energy, Link was tired after the climb the night before, he had only had a few hours of sleep before the ceremony. For a moment he glanced down at his left hand. His triforce glowed dimly. Erza noticed this.

"Are you alright Link?"

"I'm fine, it's just itching a little, how's yours?"

"It's the same but it doesn't really bother me much, maybe it's stronger for you because you've had it longer." Erza suggested.

"No I don't think it's that. Hey Erza you haven't had any dreams recently?" Link asked.

"No more than usual they have been quieter since we… you know."

"What?"

"Started sharing a bed?"

"Oh," Link said in understanding. During their recent training camp the pair had taken to sharing the same tent, not in a sexual sense, just so they could be close to each other. It had had a soothing effect on Erza's sleep, she was normally a light, tense sleeper but with Link by her side she felt safe and secure. It was something she couldn't explain herself.

"Why do you ask?" Erza asked.

"I'm not sure yet, I'll tell you when I know." Link said with a frown. "Hey Erz do you mind if we go visit Iris there's something I need to find out?"

Erza looked confused but nodded, "Tell you what you go ahead, I'll come by later maybe I haven't seen Kagura and Milliana in a long time."

"Alright then see you in a bit." Link said, he was tempted to kiss her but they were still nervous in front of the guild so he just smiled awkwardly before sneaking out.

(…)

The night covered streets of Crocus were simply enchanting, Link strolled through them at an incredibly casual pace enjoying the sights of the moonlit city. Tonight the sweet floral scent of the city was merged with the smell of alcohol and food as the city celebrated the opening of the games. A few times Link bumped into bumbling drunks on their way home, he was happy to help them if they needed it and did so with a smile. He noticed that he found it hard to shake of the more drunk females that he bumped into but managed it in the end. He soon reached the inn Mermaid Heel were occupying, much like Fairy Tail's it was large but humble and seemed to have a tropical theme going on. Taking a deep breath Link walked into the building.

Although he knew mermaid heel was an all-female guild he was quite taken aback at how many women were here. He felt incredibly out of place immediately. A member of the guild noticed Link walk in and eyed him with a sharp glare. Link's eyes were drawn to her electric green hair and her formfitting outfit, he recognised her from the arena but couldn't recall her name. She began to walk over to him with a distinctive sway in her hips.

"You know, it takes a lot of guts for a man to walk in here on his own." She said with a sweet smile. The other members of the guild were beginning to be drawn into the scene. She stopped in front of him, they were of equal heights. "My you are quite handsome aren't you, no wonder you can walk in here with such bravado."

Link blushed slightly and scratched the back of his head before he could speak he felt a presence behind him.

"Arana that's not fair, you can't bag him this fast-nya." A girl appeared behind him. She was wearing a fairly skimpy outfit with incredibly feline facial features.

"Urm, listen girls…" Link started before he was interrupted by numerous other girls coming to check him out.

"Look at that armour, are you a knight?" One girl asked.

"Nah, it must be a costume he has no sword." Link was quickly becoming overwhelmed by the women.

"Hey, knight come have a drink with us." A group shouted from the left.

"Alternatively you could allow me to catch you in my web." The green haired woman suggested.

Link suddenly felt a vicious glare from the side of the room, a woman with long black hair wearing white was glaring at him from behind a magazine. Folding said magazine she stood up menacingly, Link knew instantly that he was in trouble. In an instant someone grabbed Link's tunic and pulled him with a familiar strength out of the group of women. His lips collided with another's and he closed his eyes savouring it. The kiss was insanely familiar and Link smiled at the taste of strawberries. He opened his eyes as the kiss finished and looked into Erza's brown eyes. The rest of Mermaid heel watched in shock. Even Kagura looked on surprised.

"Evening ladies," Erza started, "I'd appreciate it if you kept your hands off this buffoon, he is my boyfriend after all." The guild was silent with shock for a moment but very quickly they started to depart knowing that Link was not up for grabs.

"Erza? You got a boyfriend-nya? No fair." Milliana huffed.

"I'm surprised, but congratulations on getting such a hunk of man meat." Risley spoke up.

"Thanks?" Erza said unsurely as she received all kinds of other praise. It was soon Kagura walked up to Erza parting the crowd with her mere presence.

"It's good to see you… sis." She said embarrassed.

"Oh come on Kagura, you say that so formally," Erza pulled her into a tight hug against her hard chest-plate. "I can't believe how adorable you are." She cooed. The rest of the guild watched smirking as their strongest member was being treated like a five year old by her pseudo big sister.

Kagura soon escaped Erza's iron grip before inviting her and Link to the booth she was in. Erza couldn't help but feel numerous jealous stares on her back and Link couldn't help but feel her discomfort.

"So, you got yourself a boyfriend, I'm surprised I didn't think he was your type." Kagura started glaring at Link.

"Well we haven't been going out for long but yes I did. Kagura this is Link." Link smiled and waved slightly. Kagura seemed surprised by this and took up the magazine she had just been reading.

"Wait, you're the one who is entering the games with Fairy Tail." Kagura smiled almost evilly, "Well I've heard quite a bit about you." Link was feeling some fairly negative vibes coming from Kagura. She dropped the magazine on the table open on a spread featuring this year's Fairy Tail team.

"Obviously not from here, you're the dark horse of this competition not many know about you, of course we have a small advantage as you have probably guessed.

Link looked at his small section in the article next to the small amount of text was a picture of him under his hood.

'Link – little is known about Fairy Tail's mysterious last entry, he has been at the guild for over half a year and commonly goes on missions with Erza Scarlet and Team Natsu. His abilities are a total mystery as nothing was revealed in the preliminary round other than the use of an odd claw like contraption and the use of a crystal shield. He also seemed to be the owner of the large red bird that annihilated many guilds on the climb up the tower of Babel. We will be keeping an eye on the mage but make no mistake he will be key to Fairy Tail's victory this year. He's so mysteriously COOOOL.'

"So you of course will know a lot more about my abilities since me and Iris know each other." Link stated,

Kagura nodded "you're a swordsman, from what I've heard, a very good one. I will be greatly looking forward to going up against you at some point." Kagura's eyes flitted to Erza, Link could definitely feel a dark vibe from her, she didn't like him and he had no idea why.

"Speaking of Iris do you know where she is?" Erza asked trying to cut the dark look Kagura was giving Link.

"Unfortunately no, she left a little bit ago, we haven't known her long she only joined recently but she seemed on edge." Kagura pondered looking over at the door.

Link clenched his left hand. "I see, Well it was nice seeing you, I'm sorry we can't stay longer but we have to be in fighting shape for tomorrow."

"Of course, I wouldn't want you any other way," Kagura threatened, "this year, we're gonna take you all down."

Erza smiled, "bring it on lil' sis." She then got out of the booth and headed to the door saying goodbye to the various guild members she knew.

Before Link could leave Kagura grabbed his hand. "I'm gonna tear you two apart, no one gets between me and my big sis, you're not worthy of her affection and I'm going to prove it." Kagura said threateningly. Link looked at her confused then realised what all her dark vibes were about, she was jealous.

Link then smiled which took her back, he released his hand from hers and tussled her hair "I look forward to seeing you try… Surely if your Erza's little sis that would make me your future big bro."

Link saw her become insanely furious but decided to make a quick exit before anything else happened. As he and Erza left they left a fuming Kagura as well as a bunch of love hungry young women.

"Don't be afraid to come back again cutie!" He heard as they shut the door. Erza glared at the door jealously. Link chuckled and pulled her close to him taking her gauntleted hand in his. Erza knew then there was no real need to be jealous but she still moved closer to him and they began their moonlit walk back to their own guild.

(…)

Eight guilds stood up in their respective boxes, the tension in the great arena was building as the stare down began. This was it, the first real day of the Grand Magic Games, the first match was soon to be announced and every guild was shivering with anticipation, to prove that they were the best right off the bat.

Link stood in the box next to his team, he was no longer wearing the hooded cloak and had put his old hat back on, his sword and shield were still hidden in his pouch. Natsu was surprisingly incredibly calm as if he were charging himself up on the atmosphere in the arena. Link would be lying if he said he wasn't nervous, he had never fought in the presence of such a crowd. It was quite terrifying.

"Welcome ladies and gentlemen to day one of the grand magic games!" A voice resounded around the arena, lacroma screens flew open to view the commentators' panel. "I am today's announcer Chapati I'm here along with my good friend Yajima who will be helping me up here as well as our special guest judge, Princess Hisui E. Fiore!" The crowd roared as she stood up.

"It's a pleasure to be here everyone." The princess smiled and waved.

"So she finally got that pumpkin head off huh?" Lucy said happily.

Behind Hisui was an imposing shadow, no one had any doubt it was the white knight Arcadios.

"Now," Chapati began, "Every year the event has been split into five daily games however this year we have something totally new and exciting planned so we would ask all the participants to enter the arena."

The crowd began to murmur in confusion wondering what was about to happen.

"Yo, gramps you know what's going on?" Natsu asked.

"Hmmm, I'm not quite sure but it seems they have been planning this for some time. Head down there but all of you stay vigilant. I have confidence in your abilities." Makarov said. The rest of the guild agreed happily and so the five mages made their way down to the arena. They walked out to be greeted by their rival 35 mages.

"Now Mato will explain how these games are going to work." Chapati announced.

"Hehehe, good morning everyone now before I explain what's going to happen kabo, you all need to link hands with your team mates." The small pumpkin headed mascot told everyone. The mages suddenly got wary unsure what was about to happen but agreed, Link joined hands with Laxus and Gray and Erza was required to stop Gray and Natsu fighting. Natsu was currently crippled on the floor from Erza's vice grip.

"Now prepare yourselves, kabo! Activate the gateway!"

"Wait what?" Almost all the mages said. Before they could react two enormous magic circle opened both above and below them and an insane amount of magic power was poured between them. Link instantly felt weird his body reacting to the magic surrounding him. All of a sudden there was a flash and the stadium totally vanished.

Fairy Tail found themselves in a small jungle clearing.

"Wait, what? Where the hell are we?" Gray said looking around.

Laxus grunted he refused to show his surprise and sharpened his suspecting eyes.

"Were we teleported perhaps?" Link thought.

"Hehehe, welcome Mages to this year's grand magic arena." A lacroma screen flashed open next to them and the face of Mato appeared before them. "Now I am sure you're all rather confused but it is time to reveal all – kabo. The theme of this year's grand magic games is survival and so you have all been teleported to a special arena to allow for such an event. The island you are on is roughly one hundred square miles large and each guild has been placed at different positions on the island. Your first aim is simply to survive you have been sent to this island with nothing but your magic and intuition to help you so I would recommend finding food and shelter… Especially before nightfall kabo. You'll get more information later on in the games so good luck kabo… You'll need it." The pumpkin head mentioned eerily.

Fairy tail grimaced, the grand magic games had finally begun.


	38. The Island of Abundance

**Chapter 38 - The Island of Abundance**

**Well here is the next chapter i hope you enjoy it, i am currently on holiday and so my internet connections aren't what they should be so expect updates to be irregular for the next two weeks the next one will probably be on Friday. **

**I hope you enjoy the chapter please fave and follow if you did and please review because it is what fanfiction writers live off even if you don't have an account you can leave a review and it's a good habit to get into so please leave reviews even if it is just a single sentence. **

**Enjoy!**

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With a blue flash the mages found the arena of Domus Flau disappear from in front of their eyes, being replaced instantly by thick tropical forest. The mages looked around confused until they heard the voice of Mato, mascot of the Grand Magic Games.

"Hehehe, welcome Mages to this year's grand magic arena." A lacroma screen flashed open next to team Fairy Tail as they struggled to find their bearings. "Now I am sure you're all rather confused but it is time to reveal all, kabo. The theme of this year's grand magic games is 'survival' and so you have all been teleported to a special arena to allow for such an event. The island you are on is roughly five thousand square kilometres large and each guild has been placed at different positions on the island. Your first aim is simply to survive you have been sent to this island with nothing but your magic and intuition to help you so I would recommend finding food and shelter… Especially before nightfall kabo. You'll get more information later on in the games so good luck kabo!… You'll need it." The pumpkin head mentioned eerily before the screens vanished.

"Wait, does that mean we're stuck here?" Natsu said shocked,

"Humph looks like it." Gray answered

"Link, get your sword and shield out, I expect we will need them soon." Laxus stated looking around warily. "Ugh, I can't believe I have to spend a week with you idiots."

"A week, how do you figure?" Natsu asked.

"Well the grand magic games are normally a week long with a big finale on the last day, I assume this will be no different. For now let's just make do, we are going to have to find food and water so for now we will scout our surroundings." Laxus explained.

"That makes sense, what should we do if we encounter another guild?" Erza asked.

"There doesn't seem to be any need to fight, an early knock out won't mean points but a late one might so I would say avoid combat, that means you two as well if I find you've gone awol I'll punch you into the dirt." Laxus said heavily glaring at Natsu and Gray.

The pair quickly saluted in fear of Laxus.

"We should split up to cover more ground." Link suggested.

"Of course, right Erza you're the only one who can keep these buffoons in check you three head west, Link you head north and I'll head east."

"Wait, Laxus don't you think we should at least travel in groups I know your strong but we can't risk you bumping into an entire guild we don't know who could be close." Erza suggested

Laxus grunted, although it hurt his ego Erza was right if he bumped into Sabre-tooth right now he might not win on his own. "Fine, Link you're with me." He announced. "Once you find a beach head south and we should meet up from what I can tell we are at the very southern end of the island."

"How does he know that? Kinda sounds like he's making it up," Natsu whispered to Gray. Before Gray could answer Laxus shot them a look that could kill.

"When you get strong enough maybe you'll know." Natsu nodded in fear, "Right let's go."

Link looked at Erza glumly, Erza nodded back at him and mouthed "See you in a bit." Link's heart sighed as he caught up to Laxus.

(…)

"Well, folks looks like almost every guild has had the same idea all of them are now on the search for food and water." Chapati announced. Lacroma screens surrounded the arena allowing all the spectators to watch.

"It did seem like the obvious decision but of course some guilds have it easier than others, Yew can produce water from thin air for phoenix grave and Azuma has an incredible advantage when it comes to scouting." Yajima pondered.

"I do hope they will all be alright." Hisui worriedly said as she watched Sabre-tooth walk through the forest.

"I am sure they will be, this is known as the Island of Abundance in the West Sea, it is filled with fruit and fresh water so that is not the issue when it comes to survival. The issue is the events that occur at night," Chapati told Hisui

"Ahh yes this island is famed for being a natural paradise until darkness falls." Yajima mentioned.

"Why what happens at nightfall?" Hisui asked.

"Well my dear, they say this island is cursed beyond measure, anyone who partakes of its fruits during the day will be ravaged by monsters during the night." Yajima explained

"That sounds horrifying." Hisui said shocked.

"You needn't worry these are the best mages Fiore has to offer, a few scary beasties aren't going to stop them… I hope." Yajima finished.

"Hmm that sounds like an interesting place I've never heard of it but it does seem like a challenge." Makarov pondered.

"But that can't be it, can it?" Lucy asked her guild glumly, she was sad her Natsu had been stolen from her for a whole week.

"No that won't be it." A voice came from above.

"Mavis!" The guild said surprised. The young ghost sat on the top of the box and smiled.

"What do you mean that's not going to be it Mavis?" Mira asked.

"Well, just that will be boring, what everyone wants to see is a bunch of mages fighting so I imagine as well as the night time attacks there will be challenges during the day."

"That makes sense, but now I'm even more worried about them." Wendy said as she peaked over the railing. Mavis glided down next to her.

"Come on Wendy you don't have to be worried, I'm sure they will all be fine, besides they have Laxus with them." Freed comforted.

"I'm sure they will be fine," Mavis said chirpily,

_"I believe they have also been sent to the island for another reason. There is something dark on that island something that I cannot foresee. No doubt there is something wrong here." _Mavis told Makarov telepathically. He adopted a worried frown.

_"You sent him for a reason didn't you."_

_"Whatever is on that island is linked to him, only by sending him can we find out what is truly occurring, besides the event should be fun anyway so why don't we enjoy it while we can?"_ She finished optimistically.

_"Humph I suppose that's all we can do for now."_ Makarov sighed.

(…)

Link walked beside Laxus as they explored the jungle. There seemed to be dirt trails running all around the island that were followable, what made them neither of them were sure of.

"Your hand okay?" Laxus said without looking at Link.

Link looked at his left hand and saw it was still glowing. "Its fine I'm used to it by now."

"Humph…" There was an awkward silence.

"A…" They both said together feeling the need to break the silence they immediately stopped as Laxus let Link talk.

"Urm… Well I was going to say we don't really fight together much do we." Link said brushing away a vine.

"And?"

"Well I don't really know very much about you either, I mean it's weird how we are in the same guild but only we've spoken once."

"A fair point, don't take it personally I don't interact with the rest of the guild very often."

"Why?" Link asked possibly out of place.

"Because I don't need to." Laxus said, Link remained silent reading between the lines. "Ugh fine, Gramps used to say I was a bit of a loner and it's probably true but the reason is I just don't connect with many of the people in the guild, not that I don't like the oafs but you know."

"Yeh, I see your point I'm the same, before Fairy Tail I probably had like two friends, coming to the guild was pretty intimidating heck some of the people I haven't met still are."

"Wait are you saying I'm being intimidated by those fools." Laxus raised an amused eyebrow.

Link chuckled nervously, "No, I mean people like you and your Thunder Legion are the intimidating ones, I guess you make yourself kinda unapproachable."

"Tch, what are you? gramps? Since when did you start getting so conversational from what I heard you weren't the one for needless conversation?"

"I could say the same thing for you." Link said catching Laxus off guard.

"Very good elf boy but you continue with such annoying drivel I'll blow you back to Crocus." Laxus chuckled. The pair stayed silent for a bit, "so… How are you and Erza doing?"

"What?" Link shouted. Apparently even Laxus had noticed.

"You just started dating didn't you? It's written in your body language, any idiot with some experience would notice." Laxus mentioned.

"Who else do you think figured it out?"

"Well gramps for one, possibly some of the much older members but no one else will know they're far too boneheaded to realise." Laxus explained.

"Phew." Link sighed,

"Why are you trying so hard to hide it?" Laxus asked.

"Well I'm not really, we just couldn't find the opportunity also I guess I'd want them to hear it from both of us rather than from rumours."

"Listen Link, trust me it's best not to keep a relationship bottled up for long or it will fall into a doldrum, make sure you let everyone know soon." Laxus said not once moving his eye off the track. "Hey Link, shoot those down, they look edible." Laxus changed the subject as he pointed at a bunch of large fruits hanging from a tree. Link grinned and nodded pulling out his beetle to help collect the fruit.

(…)

The sun was beginning to set as team Fairy Tail finished eating. The five members sat silently around a campfire, courtesy of Natsu. All of them were reasonably silent not having the usual joviality of the entire guild with them. Link sighed and looked over the forest. Overall it had been a productive day, the team had found food and water and were now camping next to a small lake, they had scouted a rather large region without bumping into any other guilds proving just how large the island was. The portion they were in was rather flat but heavily forested, large boulders peaked above the tropical trees looking out of place against the horizon. Towards the centre of the island, far in the distance, the island rose into a short peak Link could tell the area ahead was certainly a more rocky and difficult terrain. There was no doubt in Link's mind that there would be a fight on the peak before the week was through.

It was soon Laxus spoke up. "So what's the game plan for tonight? No doubt something is going to happen."

"Well since we don't know what it's going to be, what can we do?" Gray asked.

"I say we should ambush another guild give ourselves an early advantage." Natsu said smashing his fists together.

"Natsu, I've already told you that's a bad idea we need to save our strength." Laxus cautioned. "Link do you have any ideas?" Laxus asked.

Link looked up surprised, "Urm well, I guess in the end anything could happen tonight but the best thing to do would be to find a defensible place to weather out whatever is going to happen."

"That seems sensible perhaps there is a cave nearby." Erza suggested.

"No, we've been scouting all day, the land is too flat, we may however be able to take refuge under one of the larger boulders." Link suggested.

"If we have time we can set up a few traps to tell us if something is approaching." Gray spoke.

"Alright then we'll do that, Link you lead the way." Laxus said. Link, once again a bit surprised, stood up with the rest of the team and they all journeyed towards one of the larger boulders. Erza walked beside Link.

"You seem to be on pretty good terms with Laxus,"

"Really? We haven't really spoken much."

"That may be true but he seems to think highly your judgement he's rarely asks for another's opinions even amongst the Thunder Legion. I guess he must see something in you."

Link pondered it for a moment, "well then, I'd better not mess up."

Erza chuckled.

They reached the rock just as night fell and so the team quickly decided who was going to take watches as the others slept. They knew it probably wasn't the best idea to sleep tonight but it was an hour after sunset and nothing had happened yet. And so Link volunteered for first watch he laid the Master sword next to him instructing Fi to scan for other nearby lifeforms. Meanwhile he himself had transformed into his wolf form to help him watch over his friends. Link was beginning to use this form more often, in his wolf form his senses were sharper especially at night he also had better traction allowing him to run at twice the speed of his human body and with a better sense of dexterity helping him carve his way through forests without losing pace. It was a useful ability but the wolf lacked the combat skill and range of abilities his human body had. Still for now sitting as the guardian wolf of Fairy Tail was the best option for this evening, if something even moved in the nearby vicinity he would know about it.

Link looked down at the four sleeping mages, he could smell their individual scents and hear their hypnotically slow breathing. In his human form he would have chuckled at Natsu as he muttered sweet nothings to an invisible Lucy. Link would be lying if he said he wasn't also tired but he had stayed awake for much longer before and he would dutifully stay awake until morning if he had to.

Link's ears twitched as a sound came from behind him, it was slow and grating. Link instantly decided to investigate. He prowled around the perimeter of the boulder looking into the dense jungle listening for anything that could be perceived as a threat. Once he had made a circuit he decided there was nothing there. He noticed the Master Sword glowing, Link had learned that it normally meant Fi was processing something. Link went over and sniffed the sword, Fi responded immediately, she flew out of the sword and hovered next to Link.

"Link, there is an increasing probability it is no longer safe here I would highly suggest evacuating the immediate vincinity around the boulder."

Link took a second to transform back into a human. "Why, what have you found?"

"I have been doing a scan af the area and have discovered numerous structural anomalies inside the stone behind us, I have sufficient evidence to conclude that the stone is showing increasing levels of …" As if on cue the stone began to shake, "sentience." Slowly it began to rise out of the ground as if it was becoming animated.

Link turned around instantly, after gaining balance on the shaking ground be ran to wake his friends up.

"Guys somethings up, wake up… Now!" Three of the four mages woke up leaving Natsu fast asleep on the floor.

"What on Earth is going on Link?" Laxus asked watching as smaller rocks seemed to gravitate towards the larger one.

"I dunno but it's not good we have to get out of he…"

"Link watch out!" Erza yelled as she dived towards him knocking him a few yards to the side and leaving them in a rather undignified position that made both of them blush and avoid eye contact. Momentarily after there was a loud crash Link looked round to see that a stone hand had just smashed into the floor where he was just standing crushing the foliage in the area and throwing up a cloud of dust. Erza rolled off Link and stood up, Link joined her.

"Ice make, seal." Gray yelled, ice crossed the ground and crystallised over the hand locking it in place.

The four awake mages looked up to see and almost humanoid 25 foot giant made of rocks of all sizes, it didn't have a head but rather it held facial features on it's body which was made of the the boulder they had recently used as a shelter. With ease it escaped the ice shattering it as it raised itself to its full height. Fi retreated back to Link and the others leaving the Master sword and Hylian shield on the ground near the monster.

"Gray, wake Natsu up. I'll deal with this." Laxus said throwing off his thick black cloak. He raised a single fist in the air and suddenly the atmosphere became statically charged. In a flash a lightning bolt was dropped on the rock giant. Blasting it with enough electricity to make Erza's hair stand on end. The giant dropped to its knees from the impact. The static dissipated and the rock was left smoking. After a moment of peace it began to move again. Link's face hardened he knew it wouldn't be so easy.

"Fi, give me an analysis as fast as possible." Link shouted as he ran towards his sword and shield that lay ar the foot of the giant.

"Of course master, this being is known as a guardian golem native to this island, Initial analysis shows they have no physical weaknesses however it is magic that binds the rocks, the Master Sword will be an effective weapon due to it's ability to cut though magic, this however may only result in temporary defeat." Link rolled underneath a leg of the monster and drew the Master Sword from the sheath. Ignoring the nearby shield, it would not be particularly effective against the giant's attacks and it would take too long to reach. Gray was still trying to wake Natsu up who was still soundly sleeping. Fi returned to the Master Sword and Link got to work. Skidding to a halt behind the golem he changed direction and began skirting it. With a burst of speed he launched himself at the legs of the monster and with two accurate swings cut the magic between the boulders separating them from the body. The giant soon tumbled forcing everyone to jump out of the way. Gray jumped out of the way carrying Natsu who was busy dreaming about talking rocks.

"Link catch!" Erza shouted throwing her Holy Hammer at the warrior. Link caught the hammer which was larger than he was with a single hand swung round and brought it down on the body of the giant cracking it in two. The dust of the fight settled, Gray and Laxus looked at the Hero of the Sky in awe. He had just taken out the enormous giant with a savage and terrifying efficiency. With a rumble the stones began to once again gravitate towards each other slowly reforming to remake the giant.

"Master, I believe it will not be possible to completely destroy such an enemy, as you can see it can regenerate using any static objects surrounding them." Fi announced from inside the Master Sword.

"We need to get out of here," Erza announced, if it could regenerate it was not a creature they could defeat with any ease.

"I agree, Link let's move out." Laxus ordered.

"Two seconds, Gray I need you to stop it moving for a bit." Link shouted.

"You got it! Ice make, shell!" He yelled, once again ice covered the body of the giant pinning to the floor. Link ran towards it, rolling as it began to break free scattering large shards of ice he picked up his shield and scabbard and strapped them to his back. He used the broken rock golem to throw himself back to the team.

"Alright let's go!" Link yelled running towards them. Gray shouldered Natsu and ran ahead of Laxus and Erza, Link transformed into a wolf to make running easier and closely followed behind. Natsu woke up whilst on the run the first thing he saw was the rock giant behind them.

"Hey, Rocky you're all grown up," he said deliriously. Gray heard this and threw him on the floor to make sure he was awake. The giant launched a boulder like a canon at the team and Natsu narrowly avoided it now fully awake in surprise. "Jeez, Rocky calm down I'm sorry I stole your food alright!"

"Get up you oaf." Laxus yelled he gave him a small shock as he ran past. Erza picked him up and plonked him on his feet and Link barged into his legs to get him running. "What's going on guys?" Natsu said keeping pace with Erza and Laxus. They didn't answer but looked around the island. Where there were once large boulders there were now large rock giants.

"Oh." Natsu said looking at the oncoming giants.

Link sighed, it was going to be a long night.

(…)

Morning was a welcome relief for the mages taking part in the grand magic games and it was safe to say that not one guild got any sleep that night. And so as the sun rose and the giants shut down the guilds slept. None however were foolish enough to not leave someone awake to watch over the others. Within Fairy Tail Erza sat with her back against a tree watching and listening as her companions slept she was admittedly tired but that was not going to stop her fulfilling her duty. She looked to her left, Link in human form slept next to her his head lolled to the side and drool crept out of his mouth. Erza couldn't help but let out a childish giggle as she watched her boyfriend sleep. She quickly decided that his position didn't look very comfortable so she repositioned him so his head was on her lap and his body was out stretched. She gently played with his sandy locks smiling without a care for the world, blissfully unaware that the entire nation was watching her from their lacroma screens.

Time ticked on and the sun rose higher in the sky. Erza predicted it was precisely mid-morning when an enormous gong was heard. She looked to her guild, none of them woke up but despite this a lacroma screen opened up at the head of their makeshift camp. Mato the mascot for the grand magic games appeared on it as excited as usual.

"Well then, combatants I have to congratulate you all on making it through the first night without any eliminations but I'm sure you are all wondering what is to come-kabo."

Erza's eyes sharpened with distaste, she was starting to really dislike the mascot.

"It is time to explain the rules of this entire event, 8 guilds are on the island each with 5 members, this is an elimination competition. Challenges and fights will constantly be thrown at you however if a person loses even one match he or she will be eliminated from the competition and be teleported back home. There will be no replacements sent, once a team loses a member it is permanent kabo!"

Erza frowned slightly she was expecting something like this she imagined by the end there would be a lot of eliminations.

"There will be an overriding goal for this event however it will not be revealed until tomorrow, kabo. Now from your guild we have collected certain… Care packages. They have sent you supplies to make your time on the island that much easier however we are not just going to hand them over, kabo. If you look to the horizon now you will see four beacons."

Erza looked to the sky, sure enough there were beams of light shooting out of the ground in the distance.

"The beacon closest to each team will hold your guilds care package, you must race towards them and overcome the challenges they present to get your care package, oh and there is an hours' time limit, kabo. Good luck and enjoy the games, kabo!"

Erza huffed, everyone else was out cold and she did not want to disturb their sleep. Besides they needed the energy for this evening. She quickly decided to head out alone. She nudged Link awake it took time but eventually his eyelids parted.

"Hey Erz, is something the matter?" He said quietly.

"Yeh, how are you feeling?"

"I feel fine, a bit tired but nothing I can't handle."

"Our guild has sent us a care package and I'm going to head off to collect it I need you to stay on watch for a bit, okay?"

"That's fine by me, are you sure you don't want me to come with you?" Link asked worried.

"Don't worry about it just get some rest and keep an eye out for the other guilds I'll be back soon,"

"Right," Link suddenly noticed the position they were in, he had to admit it was comfortable but Erza seemed to be forgetting something, he pulled his head out of Erza's lap and moved to her ear, "Erza you know the whole of Fiore is watching this," He quietly said.

Erza blushed slightly realising she had forgotten. Link laughed at her reaction.

Erza annoyed that Link was laughing decided to get back at him, "Well best give them something to talk about then." She purred pulling him in almost roughly for an overlypassionate kiss that left Link as red as a tomato. "And there'll be more of that when I get back, but only if you're a good boy," Erza said with a seductive smile, that made Link squirm.

"You'd better hurry up then, I don't want to be waiting all day." Link said shyly a blush appearing on his cheeks. Erza's heart skipped a beat and all she could think about was how cute Link looked.

With another chaste kiss Erza stood up, "I'll be back soon,"

"Good luck," Link waved happily back.

Erza began to run into the jungle, for now she had decided to not tell Link about the elimination rule, if she had, he wouldn't have let her go alone. Link had worked hard last night as he was the only one who could successfully fend off the golems, Natsu had tried only to be thrown over a mile away by the giants. Laxus had cursed his recklessness and gave him a nasty shock after they regrouped. Erza brought her hand up to her lips and blushed, if anything tasted better than a strawberry shortcake it was Link's lips. She sighed contentedly there was no way she was going to fail what was coming, she simply would not be separated from Link.

(…)

Meanwhile the whole of Crocus was just as excited about that one tiny event, almost every guild looked on in shock as they saw the battle hardened Erza Scarlet blush as some stranger stole a kiss from her. The single men were furious that Erza who was remarkably high on the 'the witch I'd like to be my girlfriend' list, had been stolen from them. The thief was now all anyone could talk about after his show of skill the previous night and now with this event Link had become quite famous amongst both the jealous guys and the now swooning women.

Despite everyone being in uproar at the revealed relationship between Link and Erza there was one guild who was totally unsurprised, Fairy Tail silently exchanged gambled money Makarov winning a huge majority of his guild-mate's money.

As the crowd became silent a booming voice came from the commentary voice.

"Now this is it folks, the first two guilds have both made it to their beacon. It appears that Jenny from Blue Pegasus and rising star Lisa from Lamia scale have bumped into each other. The face-off between them is quite something to behold. Both the women are incredibly popular models in their field with Jenny trying to pull herself back up to the Miss. Fiore throne after Fairy Tail's Mirajane Strauss stole her crown and the newcomer Lisa who is attempting to find her claim to fame in her debut match let's cut now to the action."


	39. Care Packages

**Chapter 39 - Care Packages**

**So as mentioned earlier this chapter has come early due to my limited internet whilst on holiday. The next chapter will be out next sunday like normal. **

**As this is the grand magic games expect a lot of fight scenes this chapter is pretty much purely that and stars a legendary Legend of Zelda figure.**

**as usual please fave and follow of you enjoyed it and please please review any praise or critisms you have because it will really help the story (also reviews are litrally my life blood) **

**Enjoy!**

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"Now this is it folks, the first two guilds have both made it to their beacon. It appears that Jenny from Blue Pegasus and rising star Lisa from Lamia scale have bumped into each other. The face-off between them is quite something to behold. Both the women are incredibly popular models in their field with Jenny trying to pull herself back up to the Miss. Fiore throne after Fairy Tail's Mirajane Strauss stole her crown and the newcomer Lisa who is showing off her claim to fame in her debut match let's cut now to the action."

(…)

The two women stared each other down, on the ground was a large white X which told them that no doubt the care packages were buried. The two models were by no means at their best, thrust into a survival challenge both had struggled to survive and with the lack of sleep and make up, dark circles had formed under their eyes. Never the less they were still both naturally beautiful and they endevoured to show that off now.

Jenny was a stunning blonde with voluminous hair and a great body, Lisa on the other hand was just as beautiful but with alternative dark green hair that was tied into a thick plait that went over her shoulder covering the top of her chest. Both mages were masters at transformation magic using it to change between one awesome outfit to another, switching from ball gowns to bikini's to school uniforms to office wear. Each model trying to one up one another.

"I have to admit Lisa, your body truly is something to behold!" Jenny admitted whilst in a pose that accented both her bust and her butt.

"I could same the same thing about you, you ever considered joining me and Wake one night."

"Ha, thanks for the offer but I'm gonna have to decline." Jenny said changing into a slim fitting cat suit.

"Boo, your no fun." Lisa taunted matching her with an equally form fitting suit with a touch more cleavage.

"Oh, I'll show you just how fun I can be," Jenny said light began to engulf her body shrouding it from Lisa view.

"Bring it on!" Lisa countered producing an equal amount of light.

(…)

Meanwhile in another neck of the woods two other wizards were facing each other down. Flare stood with her hair flailing around her hypnotically, wisps of fire ran up the strands making them shine. Facing her was an enormous black beast fitted with an artificial mask. It was fearsome and powerful but Flare had seen scarier among Raven tail. On top of the beast was a man, he wore bulky leather armour and a similar mask underneath his straw hat. Flare could tell by this man's aura that he was a dark mage. She closed her eyes momentarily, remembering all the foul things she did as a member of Raven Tail, she grew angry. In the last year after Raven Tails defeat she had grown to realise how wrong it all was she had grown as a person and had gained a severe hatred for anyone who would willing cause such suffering. This was the fight she was waiting for, the fight in which she could redeem herself from her sins. But this was more than that she wouldn't just win this fight for herself she would win it for the guild that saved her, for Phoenix Grave.

With a yell she unleashed her hair letting them extend over to the beast in tentacles of fire. The beast roared meeting fire with fire as from its demonic mouth it spat equal amounts of flame combating the hair and driving it back. Puldrek from the back of his beast prepared his cannon charging it with a spell he soon loosed it a black beam shot towards Flare who narrowly avoided it by using her hair as a shield. Her hair collapsed to the floor singed by the attack, she was quickly becoming tired. The beast bellowed and began to charge towards her, Puldrek drew a sabre out from the beast's saddle. Flare braced herself rolling to the left out of the way of both the blade and the beast. She spun round and used her hair to whip around Puldrek's arm and pull him off his beast the beast barrelled into a tree obliterating it. With a second strand of hair she attempted to take the sabre from Puldrek but he managed to swing round with inhuman speed and slice through the hair. Puldrek's beast was now standing behind the man.

"You fight well for a woman." Puldrek said in a slightly automated voice. Flare glared at him. "But unfortunately I cannot fail my mission so I will be destroying you now." He said as he pointed his arm cannon at Flare.

"No, I will fight for her guild, i am strong, and baldy cannot touch me." She said her hair now fully alight.

"Very well then, Nine Hell's shot!" Puldrek yelled charging a red bolt inside his cannon.

"Hair Shower – Serpent's Rage!" Flare yelled, her red hair flew towards Puldrek taking the form of giant flaming serpents, Puldrek released his hell's shot, red beam meeting red hair. They collided producing an enormous explosion casting both mages back and obliterating the area around them. The dust settled, both Flare and Puldrek still stood at opposite ends of a crater. Flare smiled, she had survived his trump now she just had to finish… Flare then noticed the distinct lack of the beast Puldrek always had at his side. The huge man pointed with his sabre behind her. The last thing Flare heard before her defeat was the low menacing growl released from his beast. Flare lay barely conscious on the ground watching as Puldrek's monster unearthed their prize. Flare closed her eyes apologising to her guild-mates, she had lost. With a flash of light Flare vanished from the island and returned to the capital of Crocus.

(…)

"Flare!" Lucy yelled in shock she immediately ran to her previous enemies' side as she appeared at the centre of the arena she was joined by numerous members of Phoenix Grave's guild. The master of the guild ordered his members to carry her to the infirmary which they did so willingly they invited Lucy to help and watch over her. Flare smiled and deliriously said. "Blondie."

Wendy was in shock and shivered in fear, both her and Lucy had fought Puldrek before and barely managed to beat him, they knew how scary the masked man was. Soon after however the screens changed again now showing a young boy wandering through the woods. His red hair gave him away.

"Aaron…" Wendy whispered holding her hands to her chest. She looked over to Sabre-tooth's box, Grace was sitting on Yukino's lap her eyes transfixed on the screen. Wendy knew about Grace's magic but Aaron's was still a complete mystery. Wendy hardly noticed Mira sneak up behind her.

"Are you okay Wendy, your blushing a bit could it be that you like him." Mira teased.

"No, who told you? Where did you hear that from?" Wendy said far too quickly.

Mira giggled, "Oh my, that is so cute, you have a little crush."

Romeo, who was sat next to Wendy, turned away with a frustrated expression, "I don't see why he doesn't look like anything special."

"I heard he was quite the little charmer, bought Wendy ice-cream and everything." Lisanna joined in the teasing.

"I'd buy you ice-cream too if you asked." Romeo said jealously.

"Look he's made it to the beacon, I wonder what's going to happen." Mavis said getting excited.

(…)

Sure enough Aaron had just entered the clearing. He was suspicious of his surroundings as cobwebs hung from the trees. A large white X lay on the floor so Aaron cautiously approached it. He looked around trying to sense the presence of any mages but couldn't feel anything. He quickly reached the X and decided it would be best not to use his magic to excavate it as it would probably damage whatever it was. Instead he began to dig with his hands using the unusual heat they produced to make the soil looser.

Little did Aaron realise he was being watched, from the top of the trees Arana looked down on her unsuspecting prey. She silently dropped out of the tree landing on all fours, she crept forwards behind the boy slowly spinning her web. As silent and deadly as her muse, the spider, she approached her target.

Aaron closed his eyes as he dug. He knew she was there he had trained for this but he wasn't going to let on until the opportune moment. With a quick whip he heard the web being shot towards him. Immediately he smashed his fist into the ground and yelled.

"Eruption!" The ground shook and within a split second a spout of pure magma flew out of the ground burning the web into nothing. Arana jumped out of the way of the magma that rained towards her shocked that her cover had been blown. The magma fell and oozed out over the ground still boiling hot. Aaron stood up and turned towards his foe, he walked over the lava his clothes setting on fire from the heat of it but he was unaffected. Arana looked on in shock but wasn't going to back down yet. She crossed her arms in front of her and fired numerous silky threads in every direction building a giant domed web around the clearing. She fired numerous threads directly at the boy to distract him which he easily burned away by controlling the cooling Magma surrounding him. Very soon Arana's stage was set and she jumped away to hide herself among her web. This was now her battlefield which left Aaron at a severe disadvantage. His magma was now rock and currently uncontrollable. Aaron released heat into it using his now bare feet in order to melt it again preparing himself for a sneak attack. It never came. Aaron realised she was preparing herself, what for he had no idea. So he decided he had to remove her advantage. The ground began to shake again as he summoned lava from the depths of the earth. In huge spouts the lava burst from the ground Aaron willed it around himself controlling the magma telekinetically. He fired it at the barrier of webs trying to burn through it, he grimaced as it had little effect, the stickiness of webs stopped it setting on fire and it was surprisingly thick even so he persevered and soon made numerous holes in the dome. Whilst he was distracted Arana revealed herself she descended from the ceiling on a thread and waited for an opening in the lava.

It came quickly a single gap in the lava he was producing was all she needed.

She whispered, "Arachnic Venom." And from her nails shot thousands of tiny darts coated in a potent poison. Aaron realised too late as a dart landed in his bare shoulder blade before the rest could hit him he shielded himself with lava before throwing the rest of it at Arana. Arana shielded herself with her webbing but it was not enough both mages fell to the floor.

The pain Aaron was feeling was building the toxins in his blood were causing his arms to spasm. Arana wasn't faring better as her body steamed, a none mage would be killed by such magic but mages had a natural resistance to the elements. She stared at the boy ember flew around him like a tornado and his features were heavily distorted by heat waves. Sweat beaded on her forehead.

Suddenly the heat died down as Aaron calmed down. Aaron turned to look at Arana he decided to give her an offer, "truce, if we both work together we can both get our capsules and continue to fight another day,"

Arana looked at the boy, the old sabre-tooth would never offer something like that. "How do I know I can trust you?"

Aaron walked weakly over to her and laid a warm hand on her back. With some strange flow of heat magic the pain left Arana's burns and they healed over.

"My magic controls lava and anything to do with it above a certain temperature it also means I can heal burn wounds, I don't understand it myself but now you should heal quickly."

"Humph, cheers kid, I suppose I should return the favour." As she said that she stabbed him with one of her long fake nails, deep enough to cut the skin. Aaron yelped in surprise at the betrayal.

"Relax I just injected an anti-venom you should be fine in a minute," Aaron looked at his arm she was right the anti-venom was already taking effect.

"Thank you." He said nodding his head.

"Well then should we get digging maybe you could make shovels from that lava magic." Arana suggested. Almost visibly a lightbulb switched on in Aaron's head.

"Why didn't I think of that?" He said, Arana laughed slightly still wary of the young mage, he seemed decent enough. Aaron bent down and sent heat into his hands melting the rock beneath his feet. So he could fashion the magma produced into shovels.

(…)

Wendy watched wide eyed as Arana and Aaron became temporary allies and helped each other dig. She looked over to Yukino to see her smiling widely. No doubt this would come as a surprise to most of the spectators here but Wendy was glad he had made peace not war. Still she was very impressed with his skill as a mage his magma controlling ability was incredible to behold and he seemed to have battle experience beyond his years. Perhaps he had just learned a lot from watching the previous Grand Magic Games.

"Look guys Erza's made it to her beacon." Bisca pointed out.

"Who is that in the hole?" Kinana wondered. On the screen there appeared to be someone in a deep hole where the X was tossing out dirt into a large pile.

"Whoever it is I'm sure Erza will have no problems." Alzack chuckled.

"Yeah! Erza's a Man!" Elfman yelled far too loud.

"Not quite," Carla sighed

(…)

Sure enough, Erza had entered the clearing below her beacon to find a hole had already been dug. Curious to see who she would be fighting, she walked to the edge of the huge hole. However the only thing she was met by as she peered into it was a face full of dirt flung at her from within the hole.

Enraged she yelled, "Watch where you're flinging your dirt idiot!" She looked down into the hole with eyes filled with malice. An averagely sized man continued to dig inside the hole, he wore a tattered old sailor's uniform covered in dust along with a straw skimmer hat. He seemed to have ignored Erza.

"Hey are you listening to me!" Erza shouted. The man suddenly seemed to realise she was there and turned around.

"Oh, I am sorry I didn…" he paused the second he saw Erza's mud covered scowl. "Ah… I was hoping I wouldn't bump into one of your lot. Urm well this is kinda awkward you see I was just leaving." The man said as he scrambled out the hole ready to make a run for it.

Erza summoned a single blade and dropped it just in front of his path frightening him beyond belief. "Not so fast." She said menacingly. The man turned to face Erza, he had a rather long face with a drooping mouth and a small red nose. His dark hair and tiny moustache fitting his face perfectly, Erza figured he was probably quite handsome once.

"Ah, I suppose I shouldn't have thought it would be that easy." He sighed.

Erza drew her own sword and pointed at him, "Take up the blade, fight me."

The man frowned slightly unsure of how he was going to get away from this one. "Haha, now there is no need for violence here, why don't you help me dig? That way we will find the treasure faster huh?" He offered putting on his award winning smile. Erza eyes sharpened. The man gulped taking up the sword, it weighed a tonne how this woman managed to lift it he had no idea.

"Before we fight surely we should introduce ourselves, it's only right is it not." The man said playing for time.

He carefully walked in a wide arc, Erza walked matched him keeping a distinct diameter between them.

"Fine, I am Titania of Fairy Tail and I am going to send you to hell fiend." Erza said righteously.

"Well, it is an honour to meet the mighty Titania and I do sincerely apologise for… Um bemudding you." He continued bowing slightly,

"You have yet to introduce yourself." Erza said.

"Ah yes, I am the honourable Linebeck the third of my name, master sailor and treasure hunter, my most recent venture lead me to Insignia who… um took me in for … well financial reasons I guess."

"You owe them money." Erza said bluntly.

"In a manner of speaking yes but that's not important. Now fair Miss before we continue I should warn you I have fought off may pirates and demons in my time, i do know how to use this blade and I am not afraid to use it to attain my victory which is already assured by my incredible skill, I can see your no fool so why not just retreat now, fight another day, there is hardly any shame in that now is there." Linebeck suggested hopefully.

Erza grinned knowing he had no idea how to use a blade she continued to follow his circle, "So you're good huh? Well that is something I would like to see, get ready Linebeck because here I - KYA!" With a mighty tumble Erza fell in the hole,

"Wow, that was cute," Linebeck said blushing before he realised his plan had worked and quickly became a blur in the distance still holding one of Erza's blades. Erza climbed out of the hole her scowl had deepened even more. With a burst of energy she launched herself towards the receding figure of Linebeck quickly gaining on him. He realised just as she was about to swing her sword and ducked narrowly avoiding the swing. Erza quickly skirted him as he entered the forest and backed him against a tree, in rage she aimed a stab at his head. With a face looking like a rabbit in headlights he ducked and the sword got stuck in the tree behind him.

"So sorry about this," He said politely seeing his chance and kicking the red haired mage in the shin doing more damage to himself than to her. Clutching a throbbing foot he hobbled away as fast as he could dragging his sword behind him. Erza eventually gave in freeing her sword from the tree and summoned a new one. She sped forward swung horizontally at the man Linebeck once again panicked raising his sword in defence, it worked. Erza swung again and Linebeck blocked again by pure fluke.

As Erza continued her assualt Linebeck attempted to reason with her still meeting her blade with his own in order to stay alive. "Could-" _clang_, "you-" _clang,_ "please be-" _clang_, "reasonable-" _clang_, "about this?" _Clang_, "i really don't-" _clang_, "want to-" _clang_, "hurt you-" this time Linebeck dodged, stepping to the side causing Erza to lose balance. Linebeck saw his chance and as fast as he could he delivered a swift sword butt to Erza's face causing her to recoil and grab her nose. Linebeck saw the blood drip out of it.

"Oh my, I am so sorry." With even more ferocity Erza swung her blade missing him again as he barely dodged, her sword smashed through a tree with terrible force sending splinters flying everywhere. Linebeck began to run away again muttering something about never wanting to come to Fiore to start with. Erza began her hunt her eyes were wild and furious she wanted blood. She smiled as she saw Linebeck ahead running right towards the bottom of a large cliff face. He was cornered. Erza summoned a circle of eight swords behind her.

"Dance my blades" she commanded with a terrifying malice. "Sweet shark fins!" Linebeck yelled as the eight blades flew towards him, everyone of them missing him by inces and striking the wall behind him all of them very close to his person. That was Linebeck's breaking point it as he realised his luck was running out, it was time to resort to his final line of defence.

He fell to his knees and bowed low to Erza who approached him.

"Please have mercy, I didn't mean any harm just don't send me back, I need to stay here I'm safe here, Jolene can't get me here have mercy on an old sailor." Linebeck begged.

"Who in Earthland is Jolene?"

"Well I suppose you could say she's my um… Partner yes that's it in no way is she my fiancée of any kind, yup partners."

"You have got to be kidding me, get up scum." Erza said with a mad look in her eyes. "What did you do to your fiancée?"

"Nothing much, I just you know took a small portion of her treasure and um… left."

Erza looked at him in awe of how little shame this man had. She raised her blade to finish him.

"Nononono, wait you can't send me back! She's CRAZY! She's crazier than a rabid squid! Way back, when Jolene and i were kids... Ah, forget it! No time for that old story! Anyway, she's been hunting me ever since i accidently proposed to her, if I go back to Crocus she'll find me and then who knows what's going to happen? No we follow one simple rule on this ship: Always run from Jolene! So please show an old sailor some mercy. Maybe I can help you yes? yes?"

For a split second Erza felt a little bit of sympathy for the poor man "I see this whole thing is obviously not your fault, I'll let you off." Erza said with a kind smile. Then that sympathy disappeared and she swiftly punched the man in the stomach launching him into the cliff face with enough to force shake the trees around them. "Don't steal from your fiancèe, and take responsibility for your own actions," she said as she took the sword she had offered him and walked away. Linebeck groaned in pain as light surrounded him and he was teleported back to Crocus.

Erza quickly returned to the site of the capsules she looked in the hole to see the capsules poking out of the ground just as she was about to jump in the hole they released a huge amount of smoke. Erza's battle instincts took over and she launched herself out of the way as the capsules exploded grandly throwing dirt everywhere. Erza looked back in shock. "No… The guilds supplies… We lost them, that damn sailor!" She yelled in frustration.

(…)

Makarov face-palmed heavily there were essential items in that damn capsule and Erza had gone and blown it, literally. She had gotten far too distracted with the fool of a treasure hunter and lost the treasure. He sighed at least she wasn't the only one. The two models, Jenny and Lisa also had their capsules blow up in their faces losing all of their rewards, eventually they had just given up trying to one up each other and broke down into a bikini cat fight that was infinitely more popular than any of the other fights. After the capsules had blown up the pair left each other, trying to retain what little dignity they had left. Phoenix grave didn't manage to get their capsule due to Flare's defeat and Insignia lost theirs as well. Aaron and Arana from Sabre-tooth and Mermaid Heel had managed to get their capsules on time as had Puldrek from dragon's shadow they would no doubt be eating well tonight.

In Erza's defence she had managed to eliminate one person, Makarov had realised it was all he could really expect from his guild. Even so he was proud they were faring well in the competition despite the fact it had only just started. He knew tomorrow was when the real competition was going to begin he just hoped his team was ready for it.


	40. Devices

**Chapter 40 - Devices**

**Well i'm back with a new chapter and as this is the grand magic games this one is filled with fight scenes. I hope i did the combatants justice especially against my OCs. anyway i have actually already started to plan and write the climax to this arc and i'm pretty excited for it still there are a fair few chapters to come out before then so enjoy as the plot thickens.**

**i know i say this every week but please fave and follow if you enjoyed the story and please leave a review because i love hearing from you!**

**Enjoy!**

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Morning rose on the third day of the grand magic games and after another rough night with the island's local inhabitants Fairy Tail were on their knees. Natsu lay flat out on a rock in the sun as if it would help recharge him. The fact is after yesterday's events the group had only had a sufficient amount of sleep. At midday when Erza returned the guys were waking up so she decided to get some rest until evening whilst the others gathered food and continued to scout. Link joined her for most of the day as he'd had less sleep than Erza.

The recent night was as tough as before and the team seemed to move further inland to avoid the giants. After a quick morning nap everyone was now back on form almost and all of them were waiting for something to happen, no doubt there would be a big reveal today so they all waited eagerly.

It was not long until once again lacroma screens appeared in front of them and on the screen as usual was the face they were beginning to loath.

"Good morning kabo! I hope you all slept well." The mascot started in his annoyingly nasally voice. A pulsing vein could visibly be seen over Laxus' temple.

"Now I'm sure you have all become familiar with the island so far, kabo. Well now I should shed some light as to why you are here. In the centre of the island is a short peak on that peak is a small ruin that holds a mysterious treasure that has never been obtained before, kabo. The winner of this year's grand magic games will be the guild who is holding said treasure when all the other teams have been defeated. Of course it is not going to be that easy, kabo. Surrounding the centre of the island is a magic field that stops anyone from getting through. Fortunately we have produced delicate devices that will destroy parts of the magic field, you will need to fight for these in order to get a head start in reaching the centre of the island where the treasure is kept, kabo."

"Seems simple enough," Erza pondered.

"Don't get confident yet, there's more." Laxus mentioned.

"Of course for the sake of the grand magic games we will be choosing who goes to get these devices through direct teleportation right about… now kabo!"

"Wait what?" Natsu shouted.

All of a sudden a bright blue light filled camp everyone turned towards the source. Underneath Gray was a pale blue magic circle and his body was dematerialising. They quickly got over the shock and nodded at Gray. He nodded back his dark eyes brimming with confidence, they knew he would not let them down.

"Don't worry your team mates will return to you… unless they are defeated of course. Good luck, kabo."

Very soon Gray was gone and the camp remained silent as the lacroma screen also disappeared.

"So, he gets to go off and fight whilst we're stuck here doing nothing." Natsu complained.

"I wouldn't say nothing," Link said standing up whilst adjusting his shield straps. Natsu looked up intrigued. Link explained, "Well we can get a decent head start for the centre of island the pumpkin head did say Gray would be returned to us if he was victorious so we should make some headway."

"Still I haven't had a single fight yet. It's not fair." Natsu said crossing his arms grumpily.

"Link's right we should get moving and find this magic field thing quickly." Laxus decided,

"Smart as well as strong, I knew there was a reason I chose you as a boyfriend." Erza teased causing Link to blush and chuckle.

"Wait what?" Natsu suddenly asked, that was when Erza realised the cat was out of the bag.

"Ugh Natsu, Link and Erza are dating now, you've been too thick to realise till now and you two give a rest we're not here to flirt, let's get a move on." Laxus said shouldering a makeshift bag of food and heading out of their rest point. Link and Erza sighed before following Laxus leaving Natsu in a state of shock.

(…)

On the eastern side of the island a flash of blue light transported a certain mage to the front of a small ruins. A pair of red eyes surveyed the scene. The small stone ruined house was set inside a large clearing surrounded by thin tropical jungle, rogue noticed he was close to the ocean. No doubt the device he was looking for lay within the small hut, still this seemed far too easy. With caution the mage stepped towards the ruin, his eyes keenly looking out for traps. Before he even made it close to the hut there was another momentary flash of blue light. The mage turned to face the new arrivals. Three new mages stood in front of him with calm eyes he recognised them as the three Knights of Valour from the guild Phoenix Grave.

"Well, well, I did not expect to the honour of the mighty Rogue again so early in the competition," the first one said. Rogue knew her as Astrid of the Sword, a swordsman who held a strong rivalry with the only until recently undefeated Kagura. Despite her never being able to defeat the sword princess, her skill with the enormous cleaver on her back was nothing less than extraordinary. Despite her slim frame she could wield her blade as if it were merely a small knife. Rogue had always anticipated it was due to strengthening magic on her body.

"I've missed you Rogue, it's been too long since we last fought." Rogue almost smiled, Yew of the wave always spoke with an enchanting fluidity and until Fairy Tail's resurrection was the only dragon slayer other than himself and Sting that entered the grand magic games hence they had fought numerous times with varying results. He couldn't help to find her aquamarine eyes enchanting, he tried to avoid looking as old feelings resurfaced. The final mage was the younger than the other two, he had white spiky hair and purple eyes that were reminiscent of the night sky. David of the Sky was a celestial spirit mage who generally had very little to say. Individually each member of the Knights of Valour were strong but together they were a different kind of powerful. They held a power in teamwork that Rogue and Sting had never been able to match, the fact that he was alone against them actually unnerved him slightly.

"We should get started, shouldn't we," Rogue suggested. He closed his eyes, he had come far in the last year, especially with the dream of matching the capabilities of Natsu and Gajeel reignited. However there was no chance he would be able to tell how much he had improved unless he fought either of them himself and to do that he had to get through this first. When he reopened his eyes the three knights of valour were armed and ready, Yew held out a black celestial key, Yew controlled small orbs of water in her palms and Astrid had her cleaver at the ready.

Rogue allowed the shadow dragons energy to surround and consume him until he was one with it. He smiled remembering the fundamental teaching of his father Skiadrum "Shadows cannot exist without light just as shadows cannot exist without darkness. To walk the path of the Shadow Dragon you must be the bridge between both the dark and the light only then will you be at balance and know the true power of the shadows." With a pulse of energy he vanished leaving the Knights of Valour shocked. The first punch was loosed and the fight had begun.

(…)

Miles away on the other side of the island a second battle was taking place. The air was frigid with an icy coldness produced as three mages stood off against one another. Gray stood with his fist on his palm, Lyon stood across from him in similar pose, both had expected this battle and even looked forward to it but a third mage amongst them made things more complex. Eve the snow mage stood amongst the students of Ur representing his own guild Blue Pegasus. Snow whipped around him and his eyes were sharp, "Snow magic, Blizzard!" He called

The wind whipped around him and snow formed in a blast towards the other mages. Gray had only just managed to put up a shield to defend himself from the attack, he grimaced realising how he had underestimated the mage. It seemed that all three of the Trimen had become quite powerful in the last year. Eve especially was now showing total mastery over his snow magic that rivalled both Lyon's and Gray's ice make magic.

"Ice Make, Wraiths." Lyon shouted, casting his magic. In an instant small floating serpents of ice appeared and were cast towards the other mages. Gray produced a hammer of ice smashing the snakes into shards before tossing the hammer at Lyon. He followed such an attack with his lance spell projecting the lances towards both mages. Lyon defended with his eagles whilst Eve used his White Fury to blow them back. The wind was getting stronger now and snow was beginning to coat the tropical forest, the others could tell Eve was controlling the weather to provide a beneficial environment to his snow magic. With a smile he shouted, "Snow magic, Concealing Cloak." And with a flurry of snow Gray's field of view was completely cut off he couldn't even see his own hands. Gray closed his eyes feeling out for Eve's presence. He felt it too late as a foot collided with his chest. Before he could fight back he was hit again, this time in the side. He opened his eyes but couldn't see Eve anywhere again he was hit in the stomach winding him and forcing him to the ground. Only a second later he heard a shout "White Out!" in an instant Gray was buried in snow his muscles trapped in its harsh grasp. The snow let up and visibility increased Gray could see Lyon in the same position as he was. Eve stood above the two of them.

"Ha, you got real strong, turning yourself into a blizzard, I wouldn't have expected that." Lyon complimented.

"Thank you, hearing that from you truly is a compliment." Eve said with an overly sweet tone.

"But save your magic, I am a student of Ur, and it's going to take even more than that to keep me down." Suddenly light surrounded Lyon breaking through the snow and with a flash Lyon was lifted 50 feet into the air by and enormous serpentine dragon "ice make, Snow Dragon!" he shouted as the dragon was launched towards Eve, eve held his hand forward to defend. "Snow magic, North Wind." To counter Lyon's attack Eve had summoned a powerful icy wind in order to divert the Dragon's path. It worked and the dragon landed with a crash. Gray decided it was time to step in.

"You seem to be forgetting someone." Gray said with a grin, "it's true you have both improved, but I'm the one you have to beat remember." Gray summoned two swords, "Come at me." he said with a smirk. Both mages seemed visibly irked and instantly obliged Eve using his White Fang and Lyon creating Dragonflies which rode Eve's White fang.

Gray smiled, "Too easy." He then launched himself into the air dodging the attacks. The pair released more attacks to which Gray combatted them with his blades slicing through one of Lyon's snow tigers with ease. Before they could react he was right next to them he pivoted on one foot and used an attack inspired by Fairy Tail's recent swordsman. "Frozen Tornado!" he shouted as he span at an enormous velocity his blades hitting both Eve and Lyon directly whilst whipping up a wind to knock them quite a way back and clear the ground of snow.

Shaking the pair pulled themselves to their feet. "Ha, I guess you're right, I'm sorry Gray you are the real enemy here!" Eve said with a sweet smile.

"Hmm Yeh, it wouldn't do to have to fight you after taking out Eve."

"That's more like it, but I'm afraid victory must go to Fairy Tail" Gray said with a grin. "And thanks to Eve it's just about cold enough."

"Cold enough for what?" Lyon said now incredibly worried.

"This," he said, an icy vortex instantly erupted around him, Lyon gasped as black markings made their way up Gray's arms and torso. Gray looked at the two other mages with eyes made of silver.

"Ice Devil's Sheer Power." Gray said with a menacing undertone. The lacrocameras blacked out, when they rebooted less than a moment later Gray had won.

(…)

"Open Gate of the Phoenix!"

Rogue cursed as David's trump card was revealed. He had defeated two of his celestial spirits but this one was by far the most powerful. With a vortex of fire a bird rose from the ground twice the size of a normal building it rose high into the sky ready to attack. Rogue could see Astrid out of the corner of his eye, she swiped her cleaver to the left Rogue allowed it to cut right through him his body was a shadow and for now it would have no effect. He spun round "Shadow Dragon's Slash!" he yelled punching the swordsman in the chest he then was forced back to avoid Yew's Water dragon's roar. Before releasing his own roar to knock back the phoenix. Sweat beaded along his forehead, he was holding his own against the three mages but was still overwhelmed by their numbers. He debated activating his dragon force but knew that if he did that Yew being third generation too would activate hers. Besides he hadn't used dragon force in a year for the reason that if Natsu didn't need it so neither did he.

Despite this Rogue quickly used his third shadow drive ramping his power up even more than it already was and retreated in order to prepare a new attack.

He placed one palm to the ground and shadows began to turn towards him as if her were absorbing light he then raised his hand holding it towards the three of them who were preparing to defend. "Shadow Dragon's Bolt!" he shouted releasing scattered shots of dark energy. The three knights grouped together and the phoenix soared above them. Astrid used her cleaver to block the dark shots using the flat of the blade. The moment the barraged stopped, water whipped around Astrid and shot towards Rogue.

"Water Dragon's Slashing Fins!" before he could defend the phoenix bellowed and loosed her own attack a beam of heat that ran along with the water. Rogue was not surprised that the attacks worked together so well despite being opposites and braced himself. He transformed himself into a shadow hoping to soften the impact. It did not work as he had expected. It seemed the phoenix's fire has some aspect of divinity which was enough to harm Rogue even in his shadow form.

Before he could retaliate, Astrid had launched David into the air.

"Starlight!" he shouted and releasing a huge amount of light from his body. He soon descended on Rogue moving in to take him on in up close combat. When he did something unexpected. Instead of punching Rogue who was ready for him he landed behind him and shouted "Now!" Rogue turned to see Astrid's blade lifted high in the air surrounded by both the Phoenix's Fire and Yew's water. David released a powerful shot of light similar to the Phoenix's fire, it appeared that the light was stopping him from transforming into a shadow which meant he would either have to dodge or take the full blow, he heard the words he was dreading.

"Unison Raid, Knight's Judgement!"

Yelling Astrid threw the cleaver producing a terrifying wheel of fire, water and steel. Rogue braced himself for a unison raid from the masters of unison raids. The wheel tore towards him tearing a fissure in the earth. Rogue took a deep breath and aimed for his target. As the blade was inches away from his face, he reached forward and forced a shadow cloaked hand through the barrier of boiling water and fire. He grasped the handle of the blade and shouted. "Shadow Dragon's Secret Art! Dark Reversal!" instantly amongst the fire and water shadows ran up the blade joining the unison raid. Rogue used the momentum of the blade to spin and strike David who was behind him knocking him into a ruined pillar before continuing to spin around and throw the blade towards the other two Knights of Valour. He scored a direct hit turning their own magic against them in an attack that knocked them to the ground barely conscious. The cleaver only stopped when it wedged itself into a rock behind Yew and Astrid.

Rogue fell to one knee and looked at his hands just as he expected they were unusable, they were burned and scolded from breaking through the barrier. Two flashes of light surrounded the area and Rogue watched as both David and Astrid were teleported back to Crocus. Rogue watched as the last of the Knights of Valour shakily stood up. Yew looked at him smiling softly.

"I missed you too," he said with a tired smile returning her gesture from earlier.

"I know you did, you should have written, you left a girl thinking you didn't care about her."

"She knows I care about her," He said calmly.

"That is very true."

Rogue smiled but stayed silent.

"I'll see you back in Crocus, I'll make sure Frosch knows you miss him." The water dragon slayer said walking towards him. When she got close she seemed to trip Rogue rushed to catch her. They smiled at each other. Rogue bent down and whispered three words in her ear as she was teleported back to Crocus.

(…)

"Well there you have it folks, so far five mages have been eliminated today by the two biggest guilds Fairy Tail and Sabretooth, once again they prove themselves to be the powerhouses of the competition and leave the opposing guilds crippled with fallen members."

"Hmm yes they were battles to remember, you can tell all the guilds have stepped up their game this year but there is quite the power difference in some cases. The strength of Rogue was something to behold." Yajima continued.

"And of course the winners receive the devices to allow them to shut down the magic shield to come, but what does that mean for the rest of the guilds who lose?" Hisui asked worriedly.

"Worry not dear princess you see each device shuts down a section of the magic shield permanently which means that all the guilds can move to the centre but only after a winning guild has taken the shield down. I imagine there will be quite some competition over that as well tomorrow." Yajima explained.

"Which of course means far more knockouts so far three guilds have lost one member, Blue Pegasus, Lamia scale and Insignia. With phoenix grave taking the largest blow as four of their members have been eliminated from the completion already leaving only the handsome Mace Orlando to face the heat alone." Chapati announced as the screens changed to view the final member of Phoenix grave walking through the woods.

"I would not underestimate this mage if I were you from the rumours we have heard he is quite the powerful mage and has already returned from decade missions with years to spare. He is quite the magic prodigy," Yajima mentioned.

"He certainly looks strong." Hisui decided her heartbeat picking up pace looking at the man.

"Quite, however it seems the final device battle is underway this one appears to be between Members of Dragon's shadow, Insignia and Mermaid Heel."

(…)

Two on two on two was definitely going to make an interesting battle' Roran decided as he surveyed his foes. Both himself and Cryse had been transported to a field and were now facing down Kagura and Arana from Mermaid heel as well as Stefan and Puldrek from Dragon's shadow. Roran grimaced at the two from Dragon's Shadow, he had known Puldrek for quite sometime however despite this they had only traded words when forced to work together. What Roran did know about his former comrade was that both him and his monster were insanely twisted beings. He knew better than anyone how little he could be trusted in a normal competition like this. The fact that Dragon's shadow had accepted him meant that Roran couldn't trust them either. It was his hope that he could win Mermaid heel over for a much more favourable four on two battle.

The other thing that was concerning him this fight was the mage Stefan. He wore a long lab coat and had black hair filled with white iced tips. Out of all the mages here he was the unknown. Roran and Cryse were in a slightly more defensive position with their backs towards the hut holding the device facing the other four mages.

Roran clenched his fists and tensed his muscle, he felt the familiar tug in his gut caused by the pressure of earth magic. With an earth shaking stomp huge rock slabs erupted from the Earth and surrounded the hut with an enormous rock wall. No one flinched at the action and continued to watch.

"Puldrek I will leave this to you, don't mess up," Stefan ordered his associate,

Silently Puldrek raised a fist into the air and the ground began to shake violently. Roran knew what was coming, Mermaid heel stood their ground.

With a horrifying bellow Puldrek's monster, Hannibal, burst from the trees and raced towards its master. Cryse's wings began to glow gold and she took to the sky as the monster approached. Puldrek raised his cannon skyward and loosed a scatter of black shots at Cryse. Cryse merely held her hand out and sending glowing feathers to intercept the shots. Puldrek's beast was now barrelling towards the hut and it was Roran's job to stop it. He held is arms out to the side and pumped his arms into his body. He looked to the sky and watched as enormous boulders whistled through the sky towards him like missiles. In an instant dozens of boulders piled on top of him. From the outside they looked like they had crushed him. His opponent knew better.

Puldrek had now mounted his beast and was charging up an attack. With a rumble the pile of boulders began to move and rise. Roran was controlling the boulders around himself to produce a rock giant similar to the ones they had fought in the night. He had adapted this technique to combat the guardians and it had been moderately successful despite it taking a lot out of him.

He began to run forward to meet Puldrek and his beast. The pair collided with terrifying power and Roran struggled to slow the monster down as he planted his golems feet into the earth in an effort to stop the rampaging monster. Puldrek released his shot from point blank range a beam of intense heat began to melt through the stone. With a piercing shriek a golden lance of light flew down from the sky and struck Puldrek's cannon piercing it through his arm and knocking the beam away from Roran. Roran was left with his face unveiled from within the boiling hot rock. Roran raised a giant rocky fist and brought it down in a right hook to knock the vile monster out from underneath him.

On the other side of the field Mermaid Heel watched as the others fought Kagura had held Arana back telling her it was best to be patient. She knew they would struggle to get through the barricade Roran had put up and decide it was best to let Dragon's Shadow break through first. Arana soon noticed the other member of Dragon's Shadow standing with his hand in his lab coat pockets simply watching the fight. Even from where they were they could see his mind working.

Before Kagura could warn otherwise Arana had vanished. She knew where she was headed and under normal circumstances she too would have confronted the seemingly harmless enemy but there was something about his sly grin. She felt out for Arana's presence hoping to stop her from doing something. She gripped the hilt of her sealed sword archenemy ready to use it at any point. It happened in less than a split second. The scientist simply vanished with a black light and reappeared a second later holding Arana by the hair beaten to a pulp.

"What on Earth?" Kagura gasped. Stefan turned his head to face her sunlight glinted off his glasses, as he began to laugh.

"How hilarious. The average person's menial intelligence never fails to amuse me. It is really quite simple but I'm sure your inferior mind would fail to comprehend. Needless to say what happened does not matter you've seen the beginning and the end result so even a simpleton would know not to try anything. To make things even simpler for you if you move from that spot I will inject this poison in her that will cause unimaginable pain before killing her. Understand?" He asked holding a syringe filled with a vile purple liquid.

Kagura grimaced silently holding her sword at her hip. She couldn't just stand there and do nothing. She braced herself this man was threatening her friend's life which meant she didn't have to hold back on this bastard. Before she could make her move he spoke again.

"Oh would you look at that Puldrek's through."

With a crash Roran was knocked to the side by Puldrek's beast and his golem fell to pieces. Roran wasn't faring well at all, blood leaked from his wounds and burns covered his entire body. He stood to attack again but Cryse swooped down in front of him wielding a long feathered blade. She glided at Mach speeds along the ground heading for Puldrek's beast as it ran towards the hut once again. Puldrek attempted to shoot her down but she was too fast. She soared under the monster's neck in a daring move and sliced through the soft flesh with her blade. Black blood flew out of the wound and coated her as she fell to the ground skidding twenty yards before coming to a complete stop. An instant later the beast, bleeding out, barrelled into the wall around the hut creating a hole large enough for Puldrek to jump inside. Roran could have collapsed his building on Puldrek then and there but he didn't even notice he was in there. Instead he ran straight to his fallen girlfriend. Puldrek ran out of the building and threw the device at Stefan who caught it with ease. It was a small bronze contraption with a glowing purple crystal in the centre.

"Finally," Stefan said smiling. "Now unfortunately to get out of here I'm afraid we have to defeat someone here and it seems the suicidal fool over there isn't quite done yet so." Before Kagura could react Stefan punched Arana in the face knocking her to the ground unconscious.

"Arana!" Kagura yelled, in less than an instant she was right next to him her unsheathed sword swinging round to strike him. Stefan began to glow with the blue light of teleportation but the teleportation wasn't nearly fast enough and Stefan was struck in the side by Kagura's sword. He winced in pain feeing is ribs crack. He was cast to the side like a doll but disappeared before he hit anything. Arana lay unconscious under Kagura who instantly bent down to check on her. With a blue light Arana disappeared teleported in defeat back to Crocus.

Roran and Cryse stood up and watched as Puldrek bent down placing a hand on his injured beast. He had hardly any time before he too vanished. Roran cursed as Puldrek there was no doubt he had lost that fight. Cryse stood to her full height also looking battered. They looked over to Kagura who was holding a foul scowl. Cryse walked towards the woman. And held out her hand to help her up. Warily Kagura took it.

"I don't wish to fight with you currently." Kagura stated,

"And we do not want to fight you. How about a truce, I think you've realised that Dragon's Shadow cannot be trusted so why don't we form a temporary alliance against them."

Kagura thought about it for a moment, "I accept, I need to get revenge for my fallen comrade so I will accept your offer. Still I am determined to win this tournament but Mermaid Heel and Insignia will not fight until Dragon's Shadow is defeated."

"Thank you," cryse said with a smile, "You know before I joined Insignia I originally wanted to join Mermaid Heel,"

Kagura smiled at that, "You should have, you would have made a fantastic addition."

"Thank you that's sweet, but I am very happy wit where I ended up." Cryse said happily looking back to Roran who was examining the dead remains of Hannibal, "Do you need a lift back to your guild then? I can scout them out if you want." Cryse flexed her wings.

"Are you sure your okay to fly? I don't mean to be rude but you don't look to be in very good condition. Actually we got some medical supplies in our care package if you would like me to take a look at that wing."

"That would help thank you," Cryse said with a smile. "After that I'll fly you to your guild."

"If you tell me where they are I'm sure I can walk besides you need to find your guild as well."

"Don't worry about it."

(…)

The 6th master of Fairy Tail sighed in relief as Arana appeared safely in the centre of the arena. His brow furrowed in concern from the damage she had taken from the mysterious member of Dragon's shadow. The attack appeared instant but Makarov knew better such wounds could not come about in a mere instant. He decided to leave his concerns and allow Mermaid Heel's medics to take care of the fallen mage. Concern for his own team plagued his mind.

"Carla!" He heard a small cry to his left. He turned to see Wendy cradling her exceed as she shivered uncontrollably.

"Wendy? What's the matter?" Makarov said jumping off the roof box wall to see if everything was okay. The entire guild craned their necks to see what was going on.

"I don't know after seeing Arana get back she just collapsed."

"You don't think she's having a…?" Lucy asked not wanting to finish.

"A prophetic vision?" Makarov finished. "Yes unfortunately I think she is and this looks like a bad one."

"Has she been having visions like this long?" Mavis asked floating above her.

"Yes, but she hasn't had one since the grand magic games last year and she was never thrown unconscious when it happened." Wendy replied her voice wavering.

Frown lines increased along the length of Makarov's forehead. "Take her to our infirmary Wendy keep a close eye on her and call me immediately when she wakes I want to know everything she sees." He ordered, "Mira go with her and take care of them."

"Of course master." Mira replied as she helped Wendy up and guided her away.

Makarov looked up to the first master who looked back with a worried expression. Although they both hated it there was nothing they could do until Carla woke up hence the two of the, resigned themselves to quietly watching the games both terrified at the events to come.


	41. Big Brother

**Chapter 41 - Big Brother**

**This is probably the best chapter i've written in a very long time, or at least it's one of may favourites. Possibly because Link and Erza actually get a fight in this chapter, Hurray! Then again, it's unlikely they will get one after this until the finale so enjoy it while it lasts. **

**So coming up for me soon is results day where i find out if i'm going to uni or not (fingers crossed), it also determines the future of this fic and any others coming in the future. Unfortunately i will have a lot less time to write going to uni but i will still try to keep it up. **

**Anyway thanks to all those who are following and favouriting. I believe this story now has over 100 followers which is fantastic. Thank you guys so much! And we are also nearing the 100th review so please keep the, coming and tell me what you think of the fic because it means so much to me.**

**Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

Late in the evening most people from the arena would return home and the guilds to their inns, here they could watch the games from the comfort of their own abodes. The night battles were always interesting to watch as generally everyone got a fight in, it was in this week and only in this week when mothers would allow their children to stay up past midnight to witness the displays of magic shown as mages battled against the denizens of the island. So far, such battles seemed like a breeze for the mages on the island, tonight however the teams were in for a few surprises. The island appeared to know of their approach to the centre of the island and was throwing far more guardians in their way as well as other inhabitants of the island. As the guilds moved further inland the island became more wild, the terrain rougher and steeper and the animals larger and more ferocious.

Families would watch in fascination and awe as the guilds took on wild boars the size of rhino's and wolves with fangs as long as ones forearm. The variety and frequency of the attacks allowed viewers to truly see the power of each person participating.

However despite the new challenges, together in their teams, the guilds could overcome the obstacles with little to no difficulty. It was this that gave a certain king a brilliant idea to add to the challenge of the games. Despite being in the private quarters of the palace he spoke to the advisor next to him in a hushed tone. With a nod and a curt bow the advisor left to complete his mission.

(…)

Fairy Tail as rowdy as ever were watching their team, from inside their inn, as they fought of the elements with surprising efficiency. They were incredibly impressed with how well Laxus, Link and Erza were working together. The trio were in perfect unison working with each other to take down any beast or guardian that got in their way. Erza would distract the beast as Laxus blasted it, throwing himself into an unfortunate position where he would cast a lightning bolt at Link to have it caught by Link's blade so he could attack the monster with a sword charged with electricity. Just as Erza was about to finish the beast the screen was automatically switched to the main channel where Chapati, Hisui and Yajima were commentating on the action.

"Now folks, as you have all seen the teams this year are really quite something," Chapati explained. "But they are sure in for a surprise, as tonight its mix-up night."

"Wait what does that mean?" Lisanna asked becoming worried.

"This is event will throw the guilds into utter chaos by splitting the teams randomly. So let's see how they cope, starting the mix-up in three… two… one!"

The members of Fairy Tail's guts clenched as numerous members of every team shone blue and in an instant were teleported apart.

(…)

Team Fairy Tail was currently in combat with an enormous Sabre-tooth cat.

"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" Natsu yelled as he delivered a flaming uppercut to the cat's jaw. Gray followed this up by smashing his ice hammer down on the head of the cat burying it into the ground.

"Laxus finish it!" Natsu yelled as both he and Gray jumped out of the way. Laxus held a fist up to the sky summoning clouds which roared with thunder. He pumped his arm and the thunderbolt was loosed directly hitting the cat directly. Laxus turned to Erza and Link who had just arrived in the clearing after taking down their own assailant.

"We must be getting pretty close," Natsu figured,

"We're not there yet, there is still a way to go. Link is the device safe?" Laxus asked. Link nodded, he had placed the device in his magic pouch where it couldn't be damaged.

"We should keep moving Erza suggested," She was as tired as the rest of them but just as determined to win. The other four members of her team nodded and began to trudge forward when a pale blue light filled the clearing. Now knowing what the light signified they all looked to see what was going on. This time it was Link and Erza who was surrounded by the light.

"Shit, Link throw us the…" it was too late, they had disappeared before Laxus even finished. "Well that's just great," Laxus cursed. Natsu and Gray were almost too afraid to speak as they noticed the hint of frustration in Laxus' voice. With a sigh he tried to diffuse himself, the fact that he had been left with Gray and Natsu, the children of the guild, did not help his temper one bit.

Soon Natsu gained the confidence to speak, "What do we do now?" he asked a hint of fear in his voice.

"Now, we continue on, hopefully we will bump into Link and Erza or possibly another guild with one of those devices."

"Ok then, let's get a move on!" Natsu said jovially as he marched off. Laxus turned in mild surprise, perhaps this would be easier than he'd thought. He was proven very wrong as he heard Natsu's scream as some giant flower monster grabbed him by the legs and was dangling him above a large carnivorous flower.

"Natsu what the hell do you think you're doing? Here I'll help Ice Make lance." Gray shouted. Firing of his lances most hit the plant but some got awfully close to Natsu.

"Hey watch where you're firing those thing you fricken Popsicle!"

"Maybe you shouldn't get in the way pinkie!"

"Right that's it when I get down from here you are so done for."

"Bring it on matchstick,"

"Enough!" Laxus yelled electrocuting both of them and destroying the plant in the process, "Now you two are going to work together or I will blast you so hard you will be begging to go home. Do I make myself clear?"

Both mages instantly shot up and saluted, "Yes Laxus, I mean sir!" They said in unison. Laxus sighed, he would rather be with anyone else other than these bastards right now.

(…)

The sun crept over the horizon shining on Link and Erza's weary faces as they hiked towards the centre of the island. Although at a possible disadvantage due to their separation from the others, the couple hadn't complained and had decided to just head towards the centre of the island in the hope that they would soon meet up with the others at some other point.

The entire evening had them moving uphill towards the centre of the island. It was just as they had reached the very peak of the hill they had reached a large clearing. A large stone arch stood in the centre of the clearing giving the two mages a strange sense of foreboding. Cautiously they approached the archway they could definitely feel a strong magical pressure in the area. Link picked up a large stick and threw it like a javelin towards the gateway. His suspicions were confirmed as the stick was incinerated as it flew through the arch.

"Looks like we found the magic field," Link stated,

"Finally, well let's unlock this section then we can take a short break." Erza said in relief,

Link nodded and brought the device out of his pouch. Noticing an indent in the stone archway he walked up to it and inserted the device. It sparked on contact causing Link to flinch and back off, with a few whirs and clicks the device seemed unlock the barrier. But just to check Erza threw another stick through the barrier. Outside the archway the stick burned to a cinder just like before but inside the archway had in fact been unlocked and the stick past through unharmed.

"It worked," Link sighed happily, removing his sword and shield he fell heavily to the floor resting himself against a boulder, he was quite ready for some rest now, Erza was feeling the same way as she joined him on the floor resting her head on Link's unarmoured shoulder.

"So I guess we've got some free time," Erza said quietly so only Link would be able to hear.

"I guess you're right," Link replied,

"We could do anything you want, any ideas?" Erza questioned with a sly grin. This was the first time they had been alone in quite a while she wanted to savour it.

Link grinned in reply he wouldn't fall for her tricks this time, "I think I know exactly what I want to do," He said looking deep into Erza's eyes with unexpected wildness that caught Erza off guard, her little plan had been instantly turned on its head by his statement.

"W… What?" Erza stammered worried at what she had just unleashed, Link revelled in the panicked face of his girlfriend.

He approached her face slowly looking only at her lips, Erza could feel her pulse increase and her face blush as he approached her so slowly it was teasing. Just as he was an inch away he said one word, "Sleep," and with that he fell onto the rock with his eyes closed, a victorious smirk plastered across his face.

"You… you ass," she said playfully hitting her boyfriend a few times, forcing him to defend himself. Link laughed as he let her win enjoying how flustered she was.

"Hey, Erza I'm just kidding, so long as I'm with you we can do anything we want." He said looking at her.

She was about to blush again but instead sighed, "You're impossible." She said as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"You wouldn't have me any other way and you know it," Link said happily.

"I know," Erza gazed at the ring that hung around her neck, a warm feeling filling her. She brought her hand down interlacing it with Link's as she rested against the rock. "You're right though, I think we ought to get some rest, there are still some big fights to come and we need to be ready for them," Erza said.

Link nodded in agreement, "We'll give ourselves an hour then head out,"

Erza nodded as she rested.

It hardly took five minutes for them to be disturbed, Link's sensitive ears were the first to pick up the distant rustling of leaves, a sound that seemed to be approaching. Link's grip on Erza's hand tightened to warn her. But he didn't move other than that, he decided to see what was coming before acting. Erza seemed to agree with the idea.

They weren't waiting long before from the forest three people walked out into the clearing. It was then Link and Erza chose to sit up and face them.

"Big sis'," The leader of the group regarded Erza, she then turned to Link and huffed. Link smiled sweetly back

"Kagura, Milliana, Risley," Erza answered with a much more genuine smile.

"I've been looking forward to this fight," Kagura said, pointing her sheathed blade, archenemy, at the pair.

"As have I, let's see how much you have grown since last year Kagura," Erza said requipping a blade.

"Sorry sis, but I won't be fighting you,"

"Eh?"

"I will be fighting him," she pointed her blade at Link.

Link looked at Kagura with a cunning smile, "Erza let me handle this, you can take on the others, I'll catch up in a minute." He turned to Erza and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Alright fine, Risley, Milliana you will be my opponents," Erza challenged,

"That's fine by me, give it cha' best shot." Risley said loudly etherial purple orbs appeared in her hands.

"Yay, I get to fight Erzy, this is going to be fun," Milliana said jumping for joy.

Before they could say anything else Erza was away, she jumped into the sky requipping her Heaven's Wheel armour as summoned a circle of blades from her pocket dimension.

"Dance my blades," she ordered firing the blades at Risley and Milliana without a stroke of mercy.

"Wow, she means business, Gravity pocket!" Risley yelled, casting her magic out towards Erza. Gravity changed and the swords changed direction being forced by Risley's gravity magic to head back towards their master. At the same time Milliana used her binding magic sending dozens of her binding tubes towards Erza. Erza summoned two swords and began to defend herself from the blades parrying them out of the way with skill before slicing through the binding tubes. Risley and Milliana flinched at her power, but were not deterred.

Erza soared towards them and landed heavily, bringing her blades down on them. Both women jumped out of the way in different directions and once again used their magics to try and bind Erza to the spot. Risley increased gravity under Erza making Erza heavier and slower while Milliana threw out more binding tubes with the purpose of stopping her from using her magic. The gravity worked but Erza still forced herself to block Milliana's attack. Erza smiled and felt the triforce on her hand glow slightly, although she was less in touch with the triforce than Link, she had endeavoured and trained herself in the use of it. And so in order to escape Risley's gravity field Erza shouted, "Farore's wind," in that second she vanished with wisp of wind.

Milliana and Risley looked at each other knowingly. "Farore's wind, huh?" Risley said.

"Well, we know just how to deal with that," Milliana continued feeling the wind around her.

"Now!" Risley called. Erza began to materialise metres away from the mages of mermaid heel and her original position.

"Kitty Blast!"

"Gravity Crush!"

Erza was caught off guard as the two other mages had managed to predict her exact materialisation point and strike her. The kitten blast scored a direct hit knocking Erza back into a set of eight gravity pockets in a cube which worked to crush Erza with her own increased weight.

Erza grunted as her armour began to cave in.

Risley sighed in slight relief although some had been able to escape, her Gravity Crush was a fail safe way to secure someone. Also the heavier someone was the more it effected them meaning Erza in her heavy armour was in a poor situation.

Unfortunately they didn't have much respite, "Requip, Flight armour!" Erza shouted and her armour changed and she managed to crouch. Her muscles uncoiled with all the force she could muster forcing herself out of Risley's field. She landed lightly some distance away.

"Wow, you two have become strong since last year," Erza complimented,

"Your not to bad yourself,"

"AHHH, Erza you have kitty armour, I want it!" Milliana shouted,

"I knew you would like it," Erza said showing it off with a wink, "but that's not why we are here, should we continue?" Erza asked with a scary smile before she launched herself at the two mages.

(…)

Seconds after Erza, Milliana and Risley had begun their fight and disappeared from view, Link and Kagura stared each other down.

"Are you not going to unsheathe your sword?" Link asked,

"You are not worthy enough to face this sword unsheathed nor are you worthy of Erza and I will be the one to prove it."

"Oh your still on that are you, don't you think Erza should decide on who is worthy of her?" Link claimed.

"Of course but as her sister I need to make sure she doesn't fall for someone who doesn't deserve her."

"Fine, so if I beat you, you will accept me as Erza's boyfriend?

"Yes,"

"In that case, you may as well be calling me big brother already." Link said with a cocky smirk drawing his sword.

Kagura's face darkened as her bangs covered her eyes, "You are not my big brother!"

A moment of silence fell over the forest, the birds didn't sing and the wind was still.

"Slashing form."

In an instant Kagura had vanished, Link in surprise, had only a split second to defend as Kagura appeared in front of him preparing for a horizontal slash. Kagura's sheathed blade struck Link's shield. Link gasped in surprise at the sheer force of the attack. The wind whipped behind him due to the attack and he heard the trees behind him collapse. The sheer power he'd felt from Kagura in that one attack was terrifying even to Link. With her unsheathed blade she had deforested a huge area behind the green warrior. Sweat beaded down his forehead as he knocked her blade away and retreated.

Kagura came for him again, he parried her lightning fast blade three times before he was once again forced to retreat.

"Hmm, you're not as bad as I thought, but your still not good enough." Kagura said with a smirk.

Link cried out as pain overcame three parts of his body, in an instant three slashes appeared on both his forearms and his sides tearing through both his tunic and his chain-mail. A spurt of blood flew out of each wound and Link stepped back.

Link looked at Kagura in shock, she had gotten through his defence with each strike And an unsheathed blade. He grimaced, and stood straight ignoring his wounds, they weren't too bad anyway.

"I didn't think I would find any mages here with your kind of strength." Link complimented,

"You were obviously mistaken," Kagura stated.

"Aye, that I was, i apologise for not taking you seriously, it was an error on my part." Link said.

Kagura watched as Link exhaled deeply and closed his eyes, he was sharpening his focus. Less than a second later he reopened them. Kagura's breath caught in her mouth. Were they the same eyes she saw a moment ago. They couldn't be… But they had to be. In an instant the eyes had become wild, feral… Exciting. His body seemed to relax, his sword and shield hanging limply at his side. He met her eyes and said three simple words struck fear into Kagura's heart.

"Have at ye."

This had to be a ruse, this man was standing there totally unprepared with nearly a hundred openings she could exploit, yet he was challenging her. Kagura's gaze hardened, offended that she was being taken so lightly. With anger she chose to hit him hard and show him not to mess with her.

"Strong form."

Kagura crossed the distance between them with an unmatchable speed lancing her blade forward in order to stab Link right in the centre. Time slowed down for her as she got closer and closer, Link didn't move a muscle. The tip of her blade touched the green cloth of Link tunic and that's when he made his move. Link brought his blade up casting hers in the same direction. Soon both blades pointed skyward, Link stood strong as Kagura lost balance. Kagura watched as porcelain shards fell between them. She looked up to her sheath to see a small hole running up her sheath revealing a small portion of the blade within.

"What?" Kagura gasped. She then looked back at Link, energy appeared to be building in his sword as he pointed it to the sky. Kagura braced herself mentally projecting her defence form.

With a yell Link unleashed his attack with a horizontal swing of his sword, Kagura could feel the magic inside the blade as it came towards her, there would be no evading this attack. She brought her blade down and blocked the sword. Light erupted from between their blades as they collided and both swordsmen were forced back. Kagura skidded to a halt as did Link. Kagura didn't even look as she felt the sheath around her blade crumble into nothing.

"It seems I've underestimated you too, that blade you have is quite something." Kagura said with a grimace.

"You're no walk in the park either, You have incredible skill with a blade, I can see why Erza's so fond of you."

Kagura almost blushed at the comment,, "Alright, enough compliments, I don't need them from you and this is a fight remember." She said harshly quelling her unnecessary feelings returning to the state she was in before.

"Aye, and it was just getting exciting too." Link said smiling as he returned to combat position. Kagura could see his eyes were alight he was enjoying himself. In fairness she couldn't blame him she noticed that she too was starting to get excited to fight again. It had been a long time since she had felt like this.

"I'm afraid I'm not letting you win, hundred blade strike." Kagura said. Her now naked blade glowed white and Kagura launched herself at Link. Link calmed his mind and focused on her movements. He began to move in order to counter her. His body flowed like water as he began to parry, block and dodge her every movement. Both mages danced together in a storm of steel. Link countered the hundredth strike and chose then to attack. Thrusting his sword forward to strike her. The Master Sword hit nothing as Kagura simply sidestepped away.

"One hundred and one." She said as she lunged forward to strike Link while he was defenceless. Link saw this and crouched slightly there was no defending the attack but he could determine where it hit him. Archenemy struck the metal of Link's shoulder guard slicing it in half but dealing no damage to the warrior. Link used this opportunity to strike Kagura with his shield in a savage bash that threw her to the edge of the clearing they were in.

After but a moment for the the pair to catch their breath they were on each other again. Fighting each other with every ounce of strength they could muster. Link defended another of Kagura's strong forms that shattered the earth underneath them. Link then raised his sword to the sky and unleashed his spin attack which was only avoided by Kagura as she jumped over him with a flip. Using gravity to her advantage she descended on Link intending to slash him down the back. She landed lightly her blade held out behind her, she cursed metal had hit metal most likely Link's shield. Instantly she wheeled round in order to deliver a roundhouse kick. Her leg met Link's torso as his fist met hers and the pair were once again thrown away from each other.

The pair turned to face each other once again ready to meet in combat. "So, do you think I'm worthy of my beautiful girlfriend yet?" Link asked.

Kagura relaxed and rested her sword on her shoulder, with a sigh she spoke, "I'll admit you're a worthy opponent however you will never be worthy of being with my sister."

"I see well we should ge…" Link stopped mid-sentence and looked to the trees as if he had heard something. In the blink of an eye he crossed the distance between himself and Kagura and knocked her to the ground. Kagura was about to tear him to pieces for such an underhanded move until she looked up.

"What?" She gasped in shock. Link was stood there his body tensed harshly as he held an arm in front of him. A shining blue crystal formed in front of him blocking an enormous wave of darkness that appeared, surrounded the pair of them. The magic power emanating from Link was as terrifying as the power outside the crystal. Feeling the darkness outside the crystal Kagura realised that Link had just saved her life. She looked to her left to see an abandoned sword and shield lying outside the crystal. She couldn't help but feel a dreaded sense of déjà vu as she saw a hero who had abandoned his sword and shield to stand in front of her to protect her. A tear fell from her eye as she was reminded of the person she held closest to her.

The wave of darkness stopped and Link's crystal shattered. Link fell to one knee totally out of breath. Kagura instinctively got up and picked up her blade, standing in front of Link defensively.

"Show yourself!" She shouted with a fury she hadn't released in a long time.

"How very interesting," a voice came from the forest. Kagura watched as a tiny man jumped out of a tree. He was little over three feet tall and had an ill looking purple skin colour. His orange eyes met hers. "I guess there is a reason they call him hero."

"Name yourself!" Kagura ordered angrily.

"Wow, enough with the orders, they call me Vaati, Prince of the winds leader of Dragon's shadow. Get out of the way girl, it's not you I want."

"You will not touch him." Kagura stated holding her blade in front of Link. Link looked up at the woman in front of him, just a moment ago all he could feel from her was her malice, now it was replaced by something completely different. Knowing that standing between them could mean her death Link stood up.

"Kagura stand down let me handle this," Link said placing his left hand on her shoulder and pushing past her. Kagura noticed how much the Triforce on his hand was glowing. Link held his palm out in front of him and fire began to build in the palm of his hand.

"Ooo scary," Vaati taunted,

"Din's fire!" Link shouted. The fire was released and soared towards the imp mage but it was far too late. Vaati was gone and the flame soared right through where he was standing and exploded as it hit a tree.

"You'll have to do better than that." Vaati said appearing in front of Link with a ball of black wind in his hand.

"Die!" Vaati cried, the instant before the attack collided Vaati once again vanished as nearly a dozen blades soared past Link's face.

"Get away from my boyfriend." Erza said as she walked towards the imp menacingly. Vaati backed off slightly before nearly fifty throwing needles appeared behind him. Everyone turned to face the newcomer.

"Iris!" Kagura exclaimed happily. The sheikah nodded at Kagura as she too walked towards the imp.

Vaati looked around and quickly realised he was surrounded. "Tch, we will meet again, and next time will be different," the imp said as he faded into nothing. The four mages relaxed and Link once again fell to one knee severely out of breath.

"Link, are you okay?" The three women exclaimed all of them running to his side.

Link laughed, "I'll be fine, the little bugger was stronger than he looked,"

"Whatever Link you are in no condition to be up, lie down now." Erza ordered.

"Honestly, I'll be fi…" Link succumbed to Erza after she shot him one of her famous death glares.

Iris sighed and backed away letting Erza and Kagura see to Link.

Link was now lying in Erza's lap with Kagura sitting by his side.

"So who was that?" Erza asked. "No doubt he wanted you dead."

"Dragon's shadow," Iris stated, "they are a legal guild but I have spent a lot of time investigating them and there is no doubt they are underlings of the Balam alliance."

"The Balam alliance?" Link coughed.

"They are an alliance of dark guilds made up of the Oracion Seis, Grimoire Heart and Tartaros. Fairy Tail has taken out the Oracion Sies and Grimoire Heart but many of the members survived and joined splinter groups owned by Tartaros the last major dark guild in the Balam alliance." Erza explained.

"What are they trying to do?"

"We don't know that's the problem," Iris began to explain, "They joined the grand magic games for a reason, I joined to try and stop them. Link, Erza how have your triforces been since you got on the island."

"Erratic and itchy," Link said.

"Yeh, it's as if they are reacting to something." Erza agreed.

"That's what I thought." Iris said thinking. "Whatever Dragon's Shadow is up to has to be stopped, I'm afraid that for us the grand magic games is over we need to focus on getting to the top of that peak."

"I see," Erza said with a shallow expression. "We have to stop fighting other guilds then so we have more back up. Damn, Kagura I'm sorry I just took down Milliana and Risley."

Kagura looked at Erza, "It's better that way, I don't doubt their capabilities but now I've seen what Dragon's shadow can do and it's probably safer for them to be back in Crocus."

"Okay, well then, I suppose we are entering an alliance then," Erza stated.

"I wouldn't call it an alliance big sis' we're family aren't we?"

"Of course," Erza said happily.

"Does this mean you've accepted me?" Link asked Kagura hopefully.

Kagura regarded Link, she still held a little bit of malice for him, he had stolen Erza and claimed himself her big brother, a crime that had cut her severely. But honestly, even from the beginning she could tell he had a kind heart and a noble soul. He reminded her of her brother, wiping her now misty eyes she decided to smile and attempted to be teasing. "Oh, I don't know, I mean you did break my sheath," Link realised this and played along falling and clutching his broken heart. Kagura smiled placing a hand on his, "But you did save my life and so I think that more than makes up for it, Link I accept you."

Link cheered happily and threw himself on Kagura in an epic hug. "I've always wanted to be a big brother."

Erza realised what Link and said and how disrespectful it was to both Kagura and her late brother.

"Link, how can yo…"

"Erza," Kagura said looking into her eyes, "it's okay," she said calmly as she returned Link's hug. Erza relaxed and nodded in understanding.

"You better be the best big brother ever or I won't forgive you," Kagura stated as the pair broke the hug.

"I swear it on my sword," Link said happily.

Erza couldn't help but smile happily as two of her favourite people embraced each other, "Oh, you two are too adorable!" Erza cooed jumping in to hug the other two. Kagura and Link grinned at each other as they both had the same idea.

"And we can't forget about you oh miss mysterious sheikah." Link teased as he grabbed hand and dragged her in the hug. "After all you're a big part of my crazy family too,"

Iris sighed, "Your as weird as normal Link," and with that she relaxed into the hug and sleep quickly overcame the weary mages.


	42. Unknown Premonitions

**Chapter 42 - Unknown Premonitions**

**Hey guy's here is this weeks chapter, sorry if there are mistakes i haven't had nearly enough time to proof read this chapter but I promise I will get round to it later. **

**Thanks so much for the support you've given me in this fanfiction and thanks to all the reviewers who wished me luck with my results. Fortunately, it paid off, i got BBC in the three major sciences which is a little disappointing but i've been accepted into my uni of choice and that's all that matters so i'm pretty thrilled. This shouldnt effect any fanfiction i write too much in the future but obviously i will have a lot less free time. **

**Anyway again please fave and follow if you enjoyed the story and please leave a review it really helps!**

* * *

"Would you look at that," The voice of Chapati resounded throughout the arena, although it was still early in the morning spectators were already pouring in. "After the most intense sword fight we have ever seen in the grand magic games it seems that Erza and Link of Fairy Tail are teaming up with Kagura and Iris of Mermaid heel. That means Mermaid Heel has managed to ally themselves to both Fairy Tail and Insignia."

"Hmm, it is an interesting tactic to be sure, but there are still many powerful members left in the arena, no doubt fights are going to get more and more intense."

"Yajima, how many have been eliminated so far then?" Hisui asked.

"So far ten have been eliminated leaving 30 members left only Fairy Tail, Sabre-tooth, and Dragon's shadow still have all five members at this point with Mermaid heel and Phoenix grave suffering the most losses."

"And as we reach the fourth day of the grand magic games we are expecting huge amounts of eliminations coming up so stay put."

Despite it still being very early morning, Fairy Tail's box was now filling up, all of them had been in awe of Link and his fight against Kagura, although they had heard of Link's strength hardly any of them had seem him in a real mages fight since he'd stood against Erza when he first joined Fairy Tail. Of course, Lucy, Wendy, Cana and Mira were not surprised by Link's strength having gone on numerous missions with him before, still they found the fight just as exciting. Makarov stood firm watching the screen happy that Link and Erza had formed an alliance, it would make things much easier if the entire games went pear shaped. For the millionth time that day his mind wandered to Carla, there was nothing he hated more than not knowing if his children were safe. Only Carla knew the answer to this yet she was laying unconscious in the infirmary under the arena. Just as this thought bypassed him Mira appeared behind him.

"Master, she's awake." Makarov immediately got up and followed Mira out. Interested and worried the rest of the guild attempted to follow but after receiving a glare from Makarov they backed down.

Makarov and Mira were not especially surprised to see that Happy was stood at the entrance of the infirmary looking nervous, he didn't even notice Makarov's approach.

"So your worried too?" Makarov said gravely.

Happy looked back at Makarov his eyes were teary, "Aye, what's going to happen? Is Natsu and Link and Erza and everyone safe? Is Carla gonna be okay?" Happy sniffed. Mira feeling pity on the poor exceed who was obviously missing Natsu and was worried about the girl he fancied, picked him up and held him as he began to cry.

Makarov sighed, "Come Happy, there is only one way find out." He gravely.

Makarov, Happy and Mira entered the infirmary, it was in the same room as last year and hence he loved these walls, they along with porluschia had taken care of and brought many Fairy Tail members back to health and now they had helped another. Makarov's grave face turned to Mavis who was sitting on the opposite side of the bed to Wendy. Carla sat wide awake on the bed, looking like she would never smile again.

Makarov pulled up a barstool and jumped on top of it. "Child you look like you've been through hell."

"I have," her voice was hardly a whisper.

"I know it's hard but I need to know exactly what you saw."

And so Carla retold them of her vision as she did everyone's faces fell. There suspicions were confirmed but knowing the truth of it was far worse. Although not even Makarov understood a large portion of the dream he could easily figure out the consequences.

Upon finishing what she could recall Makarov stood thanked her and left with Mira, he noticed as he was leaving the disappearance of Mavis. Makarov closed the door behind him and sighed, "my heart is too old for this,"

"What are we going to do Master?" Mira asked worried.

"Everything we can." Makarov said his eyes filled with determination, "We can't help the people on the island, they are too far away and we need them to be there, they are our only hope of actually stopping this. But we can sure as hell come up with a contingency plan here, it's been a long time since I've said this and I'd hoped this day would never come but once again Fairy Tail is going to war."

(…)

The three youngest mages in the grand magic games stood against each other deep in the jungle of the island, all of them were tired from the trek through the forest and the battles with the natives. Randomly, as they were trying to reach the centre of the island the three of them had bumped into each other and not really wanting to fight were all ready for the others to make the first move.

"Well, well look what I've found, two lost little boys in the forest," Chelia teased.

"As if, you're lost too," Hero defended himself.

"I am not lost, I know exactly where I'm going," Aaron also spoke up.

"And what happened to you? You look like you tried to win a fight against a fire." Chelia said taking note of Aaron's clothes which were essentially a bunch of charred rags.

"Oh, come on you pick on me for my burned clothes but you haven't even noticed the fact that he is topless and wearing a skirt." Aaron said pointing at Hero.

"It is not a skirt it is a traditional sarong!" Hero said offended.

"It looks like a skirt to me," Chelia said laughing.

"It is not!" Hero shouted.

"Ah, so I guess this year I'll be fighting you two, I mean I'd rather fight Wendy at least she was fun but I guess you guys will do." Chelia said bored.

"Oh yeh, you fought Wendy last year, didn't you lose? Even with your own healing magic wow you must be really weak." Aaron taunted.

"Wendy is really strong she could easily beat you two and so could I," Chelia boasted

"Oh, yeh why don't you try?" Aaron said not wanting to be the first to act.

"Maybe I will," Chelia yelled.

"Oh, would you two stop flirting, I get enough of it from Roran and Cryse."

"We were not flirting." The other two said together, Aaron began blushing.

"Really? 'cos it kinda sounded like it."

"Are you trying to pick a fight?" Aaron shouted.

"So what if I am?"

"Would you three just stop already you're so noisy." A new voice came from behind a tree.

All three instantly turned around instinctively grouping together to face the newcomer. The man walked out holding his hands up. He stood much taller than the children and looked at them with deep azure eyes. His whole body was covered in black or navy leather armour except his face which looked weathered mainly due to the scar running down his left cheek and his unkempt stubble. He had a rugged handsomeness that would have left women swooning. The kids, however didn't seem to notice this and took the foreboding man as someone who wanted a fight.

The three of them attacked all at once.

"Eruption!"

"Sky God's bellow!"

"Sanguinem Ictus!"

Lava erupted in front of the children and was caught by the hurricane of dark wind produced by Chelia causing the attacks to merge. Hero's blood spikes also entered the spell producing a deep red vortex of power. The attack soared towards the man who simply held his arm in the air. He sliced his hand downward with enough force to alter the air pressure around him and force the attack to split around him and strike the trees behind him setting them on fire. He then stood up straight with a relaxed expression against the backdrop of flaming trees. The sight set fear into the hearts of the children, he had shrugged off the attack so easily.

Just as they were about to attack again he held his hands up and with a goofy grin he said, "Whoa there, seriously there's no need to attack an old man now, I'm not here to fight and you kids obviously don't want to fight each other so honestly, I come in peace."

"How do we know we can trust you?" Hero asked.

"Urm, well you don't really, but I'm telling you, you don't want to fight me."

"Why?" Aaron now asked.

"Because you three need my help you've seen what this island is like and it only gets worse not only that but even you kids can tell something is up with these games. Listen, the name's Mace Orlando I'm the last member of Phoenix grave I'm an S class wizard and I'm good friends with all your guildmates. As I've said there is something wrong with these games you know Dragon's Shadow all of there members were in dark guilds before the games and so far none have been defeated, you know that isn't good. They're up to something and if you kids get in the way it won't be healthy."

Hero looked at the other two as they stayed silent. "He is right, I know one of the members of Dragon's Shadow and he is pretty ruthless and apparently his teammate almost killed a member of Mermaid Heel."

Aaron grimaced. "But Hero, how can we tell he's not lying?"

"I don't think he is," Chelia stated.

"What do you…" Aaron said turning towards Mace.

With a sigh Mace jumped up and caught a hovering lacrocamera he tossed it to Aaron who held it pointing it at Mace. He then bent on one knee in a bow removing his glove, he lifted his arm and showed them his wrist where his guild mark was, "I, Mace Orlando, in front of the entire nation of Fiore swear on my guild mark and hence right to be a member of Phoenix Grave that I mean you three no harm and if you let me, I will protect the three of you from any harm to come, until I can safely get you home."

Hero, Chelia and Aaron looked skeptical but soon turned around to confer.

"I guess until we find our own guilds we should let him help us." Aaron said.

"I agree he's from a friendly guild, we have no reason not to trust him besides apparently he's a really famous wizard," Chelia said.

"Hero? What do you think?"

"Alright, we'll trust him but if he blindsides us we hit and run." Hero answered.

"Agreed," Chelia and Aaron said happily, the group turned towards Mace and Chelia took the lead.

"Fine we will let you join us but don't expect us to hand the treasure over easily, this is still a competition." She said remembering their goal and the issue of a four way alliance.

Mace laughed, "Sounds good, now I have to be honest I know which guilds your part of but your names are kinda escaping me,"

"I'm Hero, of Insignia!"

"Chelia Blendy, Lamia scale,"

"Aaron Helm of Sabre-tooth."

"Right," Mace said memorising the names.

"So what's the plan then you're the one protecting us right?" Chelia asked.

"Well, everyone is heading to the centre of the island so that is the place that will be most dangerous. Unfortunately the alternative and the best way to protect you all is to simply beat you up and send you home but that goes against my nature so that's why we are stuck in this situation." Mace sighed, "I guess we will head to the island's centre too, something big is going to happen and I want to be there to witness it and try to stop it if it needs stopping. Who knows you kids know what you're doing perhaps you can help."

"Sounds good!" Hero said, "Chelia would you like to go first?" He asked trying to be a gentlemen.

"Oh no you don't," Aaron butted in, "Chelia this forest is incredibly difficult to traverse please feel free to let me lead you through the wilds."

Hero grew angry then and the pair began to butt heads as Chelia strolled past claiming she didn't need help from kids who couldn't dress themselves. The warring boys followed soon after leaving Mace to watch them go whilst scratching his head.

"Hmm, I'm way outta my depth, this will be a long trip." He sighed.

(…)

Rufus sliced his sabre through the underbrush carving out a path through the forest. It seemed whoever was running the games had decided to play with them more and separated the teams to add to the challenge. Rufus decided it was excellent play on the game master's part but it was quite frustrating on his. He was totally on his own in his trek through the forest and had fought numerous monsters during his ascent. Fortunately he had been able to brush them off using his magic but even he couldn't remember a time where he had been so tired. Perhaps after the last grand magic games fighting the dragons but that was more lack of magic power than lack of sleep. He shook his head chuckling at the memory.

Despite the temptation to lie down and rest, Rufus chose to trudge on until he came across a large clearing. In the centre of the clearing was a stone archway. Suspicious, Rufus raised his palm firing the weakest spell he knew forward. With a fizzle the spell drowned as it collided with some barely visible force. Ripples flowed across sky due to the magic and Rufus knew he had found the magic field. With a slight feeling of victory he walked over to the archway and quickly noticed that it had already been deactivated and the device was inserted into the arch. Not willing to risk it he fired another bolt through the gate, it sailed straight through. Rufus quickly concluded that a guild had already passed through the gate, possibly his own.

He soon heard a sound behind him and turned around. A man only a few inches taller than him stood there. His hair was styled into a smooth grey pompadour and square glasses stood on the curve of his nose above his obvious smirk.

"How very fun, it seems I've found a stray kitten." The man smirked.

"Can you really talk, where's your guild little dragon." Rufus replied.

"Ahahah, not dragon, shadow of a dragon. I find it more... Sinisterly poetic,"

Rufus already hated the guy, his voice oozed with obnoxiousness.

"Humph, you would. If my memory is correct, which it always is, you are Rustyrose a member of Dragon's Shadow and a former member of Grimoire Heart. Which begs the question. Why are you in the games?"

"Ah, reasons I guess, let's just say safe pass to the new world."

"So you are up to something sinister, well then I can't exactly let you pass this gate." Rufus said.

"Oh, I was hoping you would say that. A battle between the minstrel who sing to the red moon and the king of the underworld, a true testimony of imagination versus memories. Come let us dance!"

"If this is a dance you would allow me the first step," Rufus said with a flourish, "Witness the power I have beheld, Memory make, Supreme Guardian!" Rufus raised his hand to the air and a large brown magic circle opened above him. Below the circle a beast materialised, it was ape like with brown fur, huge tusks protruded from its under bite and it stood on savagely clawed knuckles that pierced the ground. Rufus smiled at his creation meeting Rustyrose's with a competitive glow.

"Fighting with beats are we? Well then surely I just need to imagine a beast that can beat yours!" Rustyrose laughed, "Sacred Guardian beast, Belcusas the thunderclap!" In a similar style the beast appeared, this one was as big as Rufus's supreme guardian but was heavily armoured.

The beasts faced each other and roared. Shaking the trees around the two mages. In less than a moment they clashed. Belcusas punched Supreme with a right hook but supreme took the attack while performing an uppercut stabbing Belcusas with the claw that protruded from his knuckle. The beast roared in pain before grabbing Supreme's head with the intention to crush it. With a shattering crack belcusas gained the upper hand.

"As you can see, all I have to do is imagine something stronger and I have won you may as well surrender now,"

"Hmm, what you say is quite true your imagination will far surpass anything physical I can produce." Rufus admitted, "However once created you can no longer alter your creation and that is where I hold the advantage. Memory make, Sky dragon's healing magic!"

Supreme's head instantly began to heal, Rufus smiled, "now Sky dragon's support, deus equis!" Light appeared from under Supreme and instantly it's physical capabilities were increased.

The ape bellowed and punched Belcusas with overwhelming strength blowing the mental monstrosities head off. The monsters body fell and vanished. The ape turned to Rustyrose raising its fist to crush him. Rufus working with his advantage jumped up to the apes head and held out his hand. "Witness the true power of my memory, Memory make, Judgement of the magic lords." An explosion of light flew out of Rufus' hand, the light bent separating into its individual colours. Each one bending round to strike Rustyrose with the element the light held.

Rustyrose seeing this crossed his arms in a defensive position and ordered, "Shield of the underworld." Immediately a dark shield formed around him made of a complicated tangle of spikes, prongs and demonic horns. The attacks collided and cancelled each other out. Rustyrose then elegantly raised his hand, "Venus cannon!" he called and around him a fancifully decorated cannon which automatically ignited. Less than a moment later Rufus' ape was blasted to pieces. Rufus avoided the attack deftly. Rusty rose then summoned a stylish silver pistol pointing it at Rufus and firing at him numerous times. The shots went through the mage and the afterimage faded. Rustyrose cursed looking around to find Rufus.

"Memory make: Karma of the Burning land!" Rustyrose heard, he turned to see Rufus place a single hand on the ground. Instantly fissures began to open, cracking their way towards him spewing flames and lava. The spell grew larger and larger as it moved towards him.

"Pegasus wings!" Rustyrose called, black, feathered wings grew out of Rustyrose's back and with a single wing beat he was in the air.

Rufus cursed, he had hoped to be able to memorise Rustyrose's magic and use it with his own to produce a winning trump but for some reason he couldn't get a grasp on the magic. Either he already had the magic active and from that he could summon anything he wanted or, the more likely theory, there was something about Rustyrose that stopped Rufus from memorising his magic.

Rufus raised his hand to the air, "Memory make, Black storm!" this was spell made of weather control magic he had once memorised as well as Orga's god slaying magic, with this flying would be impossible. Black clouds swirled into existence and began to release a torrent of rain. Rufus had to spin round to defend against some black lightning causing him to fall to earth. He managed to land safely, on three limbs. He looked up as the rain caused his pompadour to disassemble. Rufus smiled at the mad look in his eye, he could tell the man held style above all else, the rain had given him an interesting new look and he didn't like it.

"Ghosts of Brittia!" he called spreading his arms out. Immediately a whole host of purple spirits flew over to Rufus, Rufus cast a simple shield to repel them but it made no difference the ghosts burst through surrounding Rufus and immobilising him. Rufus struggled and yelled as the ghost sucked at his life force. With difficulty he managed, "Holy Ray!"

The spell he had memorised from Sting exploded from his body and although significantly weaker than Stings holy ray it worked to destroy the ghosts.

Rufus now tore of his cloak, "Memory make: Line of master swordsmen." A platoon of ice made warriors appeared in front of him all of them wielding polished lances. He had come to enjoy using this spell it served as a reminder of his battle with Gray last year. "Memory make: Ice make sword!" the freezing sword appeared in his hand and he charged over to a soaked and angry Rustyrose. He leapt up to finish the fight once and for all until Rustyrose unleashed his rage.

"Enough!" he shouted, in an instant the Rufus was blasted back and his warriors destroyed in a single blast of energy quite unlike anything he had witnessed before. Rufus put up his guard. The rain continued between them. "I'm done playing games with you, surrender or I will destroy you."

Rufus' eyes narrowed, if there was anything he hated to fight it was a man overcome with sheer rage. It made them unpredictable. He decided to finish this quickly. "Then destroy me,"

Rustyrose met his eye, his scowl turned to a sly sadistic grin. "Arc of reality ultimate form, Mental Landscape!" he roared punching his fist into the air. A sphere flew out of his hand passing through the surroundings removing Rufus and Rustyrose from the island.

Rufus opened his eyes and gasped, he looked around himself, the land was scorched, the sky red, monsters of all kinds roamed the desolate plains. None of this however prepared him for what littered the ground. Broken, mangled, burned, cursed, spurned forms lay on the ground vaguely resembling what could have once been human. One at his feet was face up, flies feasted on the eyes of the corpse, across the forehead cut into the flesh was the word, mundane. A crude word used in this world for none magic users.

Rufus heard laughing behind him he turned to see a totally different scene. Like an oasis in the desert Rustyrose sat on a chair of flowers surveying the world around him. The grass beneath him was green and the sun shone down on him. He was surrounded by riches and women. "Welcome, Welcome to my imagination."

Rufus stayed silent and scowled.

"I'm sure you're wondering what this is, this!" he announced with a flourish, "Is the future! The grand magic world, a place just for us, do you not see, this is what the almighty one envisioned, a paradise." He explained walking down to meet Rufus.

That's when Rufus realised, they were seeing two different things. Both were seeing the future Rustyrose imagined but from different perspectives, Rustyrose saw a paradise while Rufus saw hell. "This is the world you want to create?" Rufus asked.

"Is it not magnificent?"

"No, this is the worst," Rufus said with a tear, "the worst thing I have memory of, I want so badly to erase this from my mind but I refuse. This is hell, the hell you intend to create." Rustyrose turned to him, "I see, you too are narrow-minded."

"no it is you who are narrow-minded, I will not forget this because now I know what I am fighting for, screw fame and screw power, now my only goal is destroying any chance of this happening and the first thing I will do is destroy you." Rufus said menacingly, never before had his heart been so in line with his soul. This was it he would destry this man with everything he had. He adopted his Memory make pose, using everything he had in his head along with exactly what he had just witnessed he prepared his spell. A red magic circle opened behind him. "Die!" he commanded his voice emotionless, "Memory Make: Righteous judgement!"

Rusty rose grinned as the entirety of Rufus' arsenal flew towards him. Every element, every form of magic Rufus could remember was launched at him. Rusty rose simply opened his arms to embrace the attack.

With an explosion that shook the world the Magic collided with him, Rufus stood straight faced watching his foes demise. Once the attack was over Rufus removed his hat dropping it to the floor. He closed his eyes and calmed himself, knowing he had won.

A sinister laugh resounded, Rufus panicked looked to the source of it. Rusty rose stood in exactly where he had been and simply laughed. His body was unscathed by the attack, everything Rufus had and he was unscathed. His laughing was manic, insane, it was a laugh that made grown men cry.

"HA! You fool, you say you have a fantastic memory but you forget one thing, this is my imagination. And in my imagination I am a god!"

Rufus gasped as Rufus glowed and began to hover, Rufus' face became one of sheer insanity, and he pointed one hand at Rufus. "You are not worthy to look upon a god," he simply said.

(…)

Veins bulged in Laxus' forehead. The foolish pair behind him had simply been too much these past few hours all he had to do was turn his head and the two would be fighting or fooling around. He had no clue how Erza had managed to keep them in check for so long but knowing her he didn't want to know. He cursed, as much as he would have loved to have sensible mages at his back like the thunder legion, he knew these kids were a lot stronger than he'd hoped to admit, even if they didn't know when and where to throw their weight around. Still, Laxus would rather have had anyone but these two behind him.

His other frustration was the loss of the device required to disarm the magic fields, Link had been holding onto it but he was separated from the main group which meant that now Laxus would either have to find an already deactivated section of magic field or another device. Of course he had no idea which guilds actually possessed a device so his best bet was simply to head towards the centre of the island and hope for the best.

It was now mid-morning and team Fairy Tail had found the magic field, not having the device to shut it down they resorted to going around it. Eventually they reached the archway.

"Ha, we're finally here, hey Laxus you think we can afford a little rest my feet are killing?" Natsu asked.

"Ha, weakling I feel fine we should continue right Laxus!" Gray shouted.

"Yeh right your just as pooped as me just admit it already." Natsu challenged,

"Resting might not be the best idea," Laxus said drawing the pair's attention. Natsu and Gray looked ahead to see three foreboding figures. Natsu smiled wickedly as the only thing he saw were the three sigils of Sabre-tooth.

"Well, well, well. Fairy Tail, you ready for our rematches?" Orga asked crossing his arms over his chest.

"More than ever." Laxus replied.

Natsu, Gray and Laxus stood down Sting, Rogue and Orga. The island shook in terror of the upcoming battle.


	43. Rematch

**Chapter 43 - Rematch**

**I have returned with another long awaited battle for the grand magic games. I'm very much hoping i do it justice because Natsu vs the twin dragons last time was the best fight scenes of the season****. We are quickly approaching the climax of this arc so you'd better look forward to it. **

**Again thank you for all the views and attention you have given this story. At the bottom of this chapter i think i will give answers to all the guest reviews i have been unable to answer because i do read them and take feedback from them i just havent been able to use PM to answer them. **

**Anyway please fave and follow if you enjoyed the story and leave reviews!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"Incredible! It seems that in a mad clash between Lamia Scale and Blue Pegasus both teams have totally cancelled each other out. We simply must assume that the three members of Blue Pegasus, Jenny, Hibiki and Ren, were simply of equal strength to the three members of Lamia Scale, Lisa, Wake and Yuka. This means that both of these guilds only have one member left, the ones that have been separated from the main team Ichiya from Blue Pegasus and Chelia from Lamia scale. All of their guilds hopes are now shouldered on to these final members."

"Hmm, also with the recent elimination of Rufus from Sabre-tooth that means only Fairy Tail and Dragon's Shadow both still have all of their members still in play." Yajima announced.

"Oh but that has to change now, look. Sabre-tooth and Fairy Tail have met up!" Hisui noticed.

"No way! Wow folks, we've had some crazy battles today but this is the big one. I'm sure none of you have forgotten the explosive battle from last year where Natsu single handedly destroyed Sabre-tooth's twin dragons bringing them out of their yearly reign of terror."

"Tch," Gajeel scoffed from Fairy Tails box, "single handedly my ass," Levy chuckled at his side.

"Not to mention the brief fight that occurred between Laxus, Jura and Orga last games leaving Laxus the victor. There is no doubt Sabre-tooth is ready for some payback, just look how fired up Sting and Rogue are on screen. I am currently wetting myself with anticipation right now! Seriously get me a change of pants...please."

"Urm, Chapati that may be too much information." Hisui muttered.

At this point it was not only the men on the island who were fired up. The entirety Sabre-tooth were ready for this fight. Yukino just sighed allowing her boisterous guild to do whatever they wanted. She looked over to Fairy Tail's box, it was surprisingly empty with only a few members watching. Yukino frowned, knowing that if Fairy Tail wasn't here something was up. She would have to check with them after the fight, she looked to the screen praying for her friend's safety.

(…)

Sparks crackled between the two teams and the air stood still. The sheer amount of magic pressure being produced made the earth tremble. A grown man would have crumbled in tears from sheer amount of power in one space. The sky darkened as rumbling thunderclouds swirled over them. Rain began to fall heavily on all six mages but none of them even flinched.

This was it.

Lightning dropped on both Laxus and Orga signifying the beginning of the battle. The pair, coated in electricity, launched at each other.

"Lightning Dragon's fist!"

"Thunder god's Raging Punch!"

Their fists met in an explosion leaving an enormous crater where they stood. The twin dragons and Natsu and Gray didn't even flinch at their power and immediately joined the fray.

Sting was immediately on Natsu his entire arm alight with his white dragon slayer magic. He swung round with a left hook. But Natsu dodged setting his arm on fire as he went in to strike Sting. Sting caught his flaming fist and pulled him over his shoulder throwing him into a tree. He then leapt at him, "White dragon's Roar."

"Fire Dragon's Roar!"

The attacks collided cancelling each other out. Giving Natsu time to roll away before once again launching himself at Sting. "Fire Dragon's Wing Attack!" Fire erupted from Natsu's elbows and flew at Sting in a wide attack.

Sting held a hand out. "White Dragon's Holy Light!" Light consumed the fire protecting Sting completely.

As it died a new voice was heard, "Never turn your back on the enemy, Ice make Cannon!" Immediately a shot of powerful ice energy struck Sting from behind knocking him towards Natsu.

Natsu seeing this lit his hand up. "Fire Dragon's Iron Fist." He yelled as he threw his hand at Sting.

"Shadow Dragon's Hidden Strike!" Rogue yelled appearing in front of Natsu from the shadows on the ground. Rogue delivered a shadow covered roundhouse kick to Natsu, who had no time to defend, before spinning round to catch Sting.

Natsu spoke up. "You've gotten stronger, but haven't quite got us yet!"

The twin dragon's faced their foes both of them smiling. "Let's do this Rogue,"

Rogue nodded, "Shadow Dragon's Cloak!"

"White Dragons Cloak!" Rogue faded into darkness and Sting became a blinding light. The light flew towards Natsu and Gray who attempted to defend themselves. Natsu glimpsed Sting and attempted a punch but hit thin air he then received a vicious uppercut to the torso. "Ice make shield!" Gray yelled as he saw a shadow come towards him. However the shadow moved round the shield before kicking him in the chest.

"This is our answer to you Natsu, last fight you used our fighting skill against us now we have done the same."

"We have totally altered our fighting style to perfectly counter yours, on top of that we produced these cloaks. A mix of our Drive spells and our assimilation with light and shadow!" Sting announced.

"You've literally transformed yourselves into pure light and pure shadow so we can't hit you." Natsu said clutching his torso in pain. "Ha, cool trick but don't forget you're still up against us." Natsu held his fist out to Gray and Gray bumped it with his own fist.

"Sure, we seem to be at a disadvantage, we supposedly cannot hit you, you have dragon force as back up, and you're the perfect team." Gray continued.

"But, we sure as hell ain't backing down. Besides even if you two are tighter than a full up fish barrel. You ain't got nothing on me n' Gray."

"Ha you got that right, we've been at each other's throats for so long we know each other inside out,"

"Upside down,"

"Back to front."

"So sure we fight a lot,"

"But it's so that we're ready for moments like this,"

"Ha that's a pretty speech, did but that's all it is," Sting announced.

"True but, you're also forgetting one last thing," Natsu said with a wicked grin. "We're Fairy Tail, Bitch!" He announced as Gray tore off his shirt and Natsu adopted Gray's standard pose fire flowing out of his hands.

(…)

The storm produced by Orga and Laxus was getting more and more intense now and was spreading throughout the island. The pair were now both literally in the sky as they fought. Kick met kick punch met punch, thunderbolt met thunderbolt. Neither backed down from the other and neither wasted their breath on pointless taunts. The only communication in the fight was in the language of combat.

"Lightning god's bellow!"

"Lightning Dragon's roar!"

Black lightning met yellow and cast the users apart. The pair landed in trees their muscles coiling up as they prepared to launch themselves at each other again. Both fighters were terrifying to look at, both coated in their own respective lightning, their muscles bulging and the irises of their eyes had totally vanished being replaced by pure power. The pair met each other again tearing at one another with punch after punch after punch.

Every now and then natural lighting would strike one of them powering up their attacks even more as they ate the lightning. The pair appeared to be evenly matched god slayer and dragon slayer magic being held equal in the eyes of any spectators. Orga grunted as Laxus managed to strike him down to earth. The discharge of power released as he hit the ground started a forest fire around them. Laxus lowered himself down to Orga levitating by pure magic power.

Orga pulled himself up no longer coated in lightning and looked up at Laxus who floated above him with an unholy power. Orga laughed, he realised now just how strong Fairy Tail really was but he was not about to give up. He was a God Slayer and it was about time he showed everyone what that meant.

Laxus looked down on his opponent choosing to finish this now. "Lightning Dragon's Roar!" A beam of golden light the size of Domus Flau descended on Orga. The sheer power of it could easily have destroyed the arena and everyone in it but Orga stood there and smiled.

Laxus's eyes widened as he felt the air pressure change. Looking down in surprise he saw his attack vanish, the entirety of it swirling into a single point until it was all gone and left there was the sneering face of Orga. His body flickering with yellow and black lightning.

"He ate it," Laxus realised with a grimace.

Lightning bolts shot off Orga discharging into the plants and trees surrounding him. The bolts carved deep lightning shape grooves into the ground and trees surrounding him as he struggled to contain the power. He looked up and released all the energy in one attack.

"Lightning God's Bellow!" He yelled releasing a beam of black and yellow lightning, twice the size of Laxus' previous attack. Laxus couldn't do anything to defend himself and was instantly consumed by the attack which threw him way up into the sky. The beam of lightning burned an enormous whole in the cloud layer throwing Laxus high above it and knocking him unconscious.

As the sun shone on him, Orga collapsed onto one knee feeling the weight of his now severe magic depravation. God slayer magic was by far the worst for such a symptom taking directly from the user's health. Orga looked to his hands to see his burned skin, red bolts ran up his steaming arms. He shivered in pain, without a doubt it would take a year for him to be able to recover from this one. He looked up to face the sun and saw the tiny dot that was Laxus falling from the sky.

"Ugh, damn fairies have made us soft," he complained. Ignoring the pain in his body he stood up and took aim at Laxus. Once again the ground shook as he prepared himself. In one fluid motion he jumped up into the sky launching himself towards Laxus. He caught the man's unconscious form and allowed himself to free fall preparing himself for his landing.

He used a final shot of lightning to slow the pair of them down before landing heavily producing and enormous crater.

It was then Laxus woke up, he looked to his side and saw the lightning god slayer lying next to him. Realising what had happened, Laxus started to laugh despite his pain.

"Argh, why in Fiore are you laughing?" Orga grunted. Laxus ignored him and continued to laugh. Eventually Orga simply sighed, "Call this one a draw then?"

At this Laxus stopped laughing, "Nah, this one's yours but don't think you'll be able to beat me next time."

"Humph, I look forward to it,"

"Ugh, I guess I can leave this thing to the other buffoons in my guild," Laxus said resigning himself to defeat.

"Ha, they still don't stand a chance against the rest of my guild, just you watch we'll be taking back the crown this year."

"I'd like to see you try," Laxus said as blue light overtook them and they left the island for good.

(…)

In an instant the four of them collided with each other, Sting and Rogue both went in to attack but were surprised when Gray and Natsu caught their arms despite being under magic cloaks. No doubt they had already figured out how to get past the cloaks deeming them pointless already. Natsu and Gray threw the two dragon slayers towards each other hoping to make them crash into each other but Sting and Rogue had different ideas. They spun mid-air and used each other to propel themselves back towards Natsu and Gray. Rogue flew at Natsu his eyes glowing red from inside his shadowy cloak and Sting flew at Gray. Gray turned the floor around him to ice so Sting lost his balance when he got close. Sting however managed to feint his fall and spun round to knock Gray off his feet with a low kick. He was about to finish the job with a holy punch to the face but Gray produced a shield and without wasting any time began to freeze Sting in ice.

Rogue cast a shadowy orb at Natsu who blasted his way through it and avoided Rogue's next melee attack by jumping over his head to land behind him and deliver a fire dragon's talon to Sting knocking him off Gray and throwing him into a tree. Gray then got up making a sword to parry the approaching Rogue who was coming up behind. The strike forced Rogue back where he drew his own katana. The pair jumped at each other. But Rogue had the upper hand he turned his blade into shadow just as it was about to meet Gray's defence and it sailed right through re-materialising on the other side to hit Gray and cast him to where Sting stood.

Sting then sliced his hand downwards throwing Gray to the floor and producing a decent sized crater in the process. He then parried Natsu's Fire dragon roar with a roar of his own whilst Gray hit Sting with his ice lances from point blank range.

The carnage continued for a huge amount of time neither pair being able to overpower the others. Eventually all four of them stood facing each other out of breath.

"You guys still not usin' dragon force?" Natsu asked.

"Of course not this time we're gonna beat you on your own ground. We beat you without using it then it proves we are stronger than you." Sting replied pointing at the pair of them

"Oh, yeh why are you so caught up on that?" Gray asked.

Natsu humphed, "It's because no knew believes that they slew a dragon and after last year no one's ever going to believe them."

"Whatever, it's not important now what matters now is proving we are stronger than you." Rogue said calmly.

All of a sudden there was an almighty blast above them. All four looked over to the source to see Laxus miles away launch and awesome attack at Orga.

"Ha, see that, we have this in the bag!" Gray said.

The twin dragons watched in awe at the attack but their awe was instantly redirected by Orga's counter attack. Once it was over the four of them remained silent in sheer awe of their power. Sting and Rogue turned back.

"We should get finished too." They said as the sun was cast on them. Rogue moved under the tree cover and Sting stood in the light. It took less than a second for Natsu and Gray to realise they were eating their respective element and instantly tried to stop them.

"Ice make lance,"

"Fire dragon's Roar!"

It was far to late. Rejuvenated, Sting and Rogue easily avoided the attacks and began to walk towards Gray and Natsu.

"Gray, if you have some hidden ability it would be a good time to use it." Natsu said.

"What about you?" Gray asked knowing he couldn't use his hidden ability especially with Natsu around. Natsu stayed silent and looked over the hill. "Ugh tell you what let's try this. Ice make, ultimate wall!" Gray yelled.

Instantly a hugely thick wall of ice was produced in front of Gray, it had to have been 20 metres thick and 100 tall.

"Gray, there was smoke!" Natsu yelled.

"And where there's smoke there's fire!" Gray realised out of breath.

Suddenly there was an ear shattering smash and the entire wall fell. Sting and Rogue burst through the wreckage and simultaneously punch Natsu and Gray in the face. The pair of them were knocked back until they collided with a rock destroying it. The pair shook as they pulled themselves up. Both of them could see the twin Dragons walking towards them cloaked in shadow and light.

"Gray remember when we were chasing that kid from Insignia."

"Oh you have got to be kidding me?"

"Just do it!" Natsu yelled.

With slight apprehension Gray began to run towards Sting and Rogue his hands in position. Natsu ran up behind him and jumped on his back. This made Sting and Rogue falter having no idea what Natsu and Gray were up to.

"Ice make slide!" Gray called producing the slide in front of them this one was much larger than the one in Nagamasa. He also turned the ground in front of him into ice and produced jumped making ice skates on the soles of his shoes to decrease friction.

Natsu prepared himself making sure his arms and feet were pointing behind them and yelled. "Fire Dragon's Boost." The pair were launched forward as fire rocketed out of Natsu's limbs melting the ice behind them. As they reached break neck speeds they hit the slide and were launched into the air. Sting and Rogue watched in complete confusion as the pair sailed overhead. For good measure Gray fired some lances at the pair of them to stop them interrupting their flight before they collided with the ground in the crater Laxus and Orga had just fought in.

"Jeez old Laxus really did a number on this place," Natsu said looking round.

Gray groaned, "It seems he wanted to set the entire island on fire. Anyway get eating, I'm gonna hold them off."

"What how?"

"Dragon slayers have a little weakness I can exploit." He said picking himself up.

"Right, save some for me,"

"Ha, no promises, now get eating!" Gray said pulling Natsu up.

"Perfect I was just getting peckish." Natsu grinned running over to the forest fire to start eating.

Gray turned to the edge of the crater just as a blast of shadow parted the trees.

"You two aren't getting away that easy!" Sting announced.

"Ice make carts!" Gray yelled. Ice ran across the ground towards the pair of them and carts rose from the ground underneath them. Before they could start to roll down the hill and take effect the pair of them smashed the carts and looked at Gray with malice. Gray cursed, he had hoped to catch them but it seemed it didn't work.

With a roar Rogue transformed into a shadow and ran across the crater to Natsu appearing before him. With a swift punch Natsu was knocked back to Gray in the centre of the crater.

"Okay this is a pretty shit situation, you didn't eat any did you?" Gray decided as the twin dragons charged their respective roars.

"Meh, we've had worse and what did we always do back then?" Natsu said with a smirk.

"Relied on sheer dumb luck?"

"Pretty much." Natsu said with a grin, "Gray get down!" Natsu said tripping his teammate up. The white and shadow roars were released and Natsu breathed out.

Sting and Rogue smiled in victory realising that finally they were about to beat their idol. But their smiles faded when their roars began to bend oddly against their will. Both of them cut the attack and looked towards Natsu to find he was eating their attacks.

"What?!" They both gasped in shock.

Natsu fell to his knees as he attempted to ingest the attacks.

"Idiot, is he trying to kill himself?" Rogue yelled, watching as the fire dragon slayer shook violently.

Gray pulled himself up off the ground, "If you have to ask that you really don't know Natsu well enough." It was then Natsu roared, his veins bulged and his eyes were pupil-less. He fell to the floor, Sting and Rogue flinched as they watched Natsu writhe.

All too suddenly Natsu stilled. He stood up. A powerful aura radiated from his body, a black and white pattern appeared along each side of his face. Sting and Rogue steeled themselves and decided to launch themselves at Natsu.

Natsu smirked held his palms out to face the twin dragons and said.

"Twilight Flame Dragon's Pulse!" Small orbs of fire, light and shadow appeared in Natsu's palms absorbing energy from their surroundings. Then they vanished and the world stood still for a split second before the energy was released.

Pure power was released from Natsu's palms, everything within a mile was hit as the pulse exploded. An enormous orb of magic expanded outwards destroying everything in it's path. The sheer sound was deafening to everyone on the island. It collided with the magic field protecting the centre of the island which stood against it for a time before it too was destroyed, the entire field disappearing in one go. The pulse dissipated soon after.

Natsu was left in the centre of the crater harshly out of breath and feeling as if he were about to vomit. He looked around. Gray, Sting and Rogue stood around him all of the, stunned at the sheer impact of the spell. Sting and Rogue fell to the floor defeated. After a flash of blue light they faded from the island. Where Sting once lay was the third now useless device.

Gray raised his hand to his chest and began to laugh. "Fucking hell Natsu, a bit much don't you think?"

Natsu turned to Gray, "What do you think? Gildarts level destruction yet?" he asked surveying the surroundings.

"Ha, you've got a way to go before you destroy something with every step. Still you're getting close." Gray said with a cough he then began to fall.

"Shit man, come on we ain't done yet," Natsu said catching him.

"Oh trust me I am, besides I have a feeling they need me back home. Try not to hit your own team mate next time you idiot. Anyway get outta here, we're relying on you, you know."

Natsu set Gray down, "Right, I'll see you at the finish line then bud." He said holding out his fist.

"Don't take long," Gray bumped his fist.

Natsu stood up with pain, "Shit their magic tastes disgusting, I'm gonna be sick for years after this." He complained.

"Ah stop whining and piss off will ya,"

"Right, see ya later Gray, tell Lucy I'm expecting a special reward when I get back!" Natsu yelled running out of the crater.

"Jerk." Gray said as blue light surrounded him and he returned to Crocus.

"Bitch," Natsu replied with a wily grin.

* * *

**Answers to guest reviews**

**Axcel - chap 1: **Using the Hero of Time would make sense but honestly i prefer the more recent Heroes (my favourite being twilight) however the Hero of the sky just seemed to work. Dont forget that he also had his fair share of time travelling.

**Guest - chap 41 - Aug 10: **hey thanks a lot, unfortunately as much as i love ghirahim i have not planned his return. Doesnt mean it wont happen in the future but our favourite flamboyant demon lord will not meet Link at the end of the arc.

**Jenny Hotkins - numerous chapters: **Hey, thank you so much for your regular reviews it is always nice to know that you are enjoying the story. I'm sorry but i will not be writing any lemons for this story, i'm more into fluff and fanservice than full on smut, however if anyone would like to write a lemon based on the story you will have my full support but it will have to become a standalone story (i've grown fond of the T in the description box ;P).

**Special thanks to regular reviews - Telron, Feldu24, Shifx and Nalufordays. you guys are amazing and i'm so happy that you've stuck with me for so long.**

**Love you guys!**


	44. Insignia vs Dragon's Shadow

**Chapter 44 - Insignia vs Dragon's Shadow**

**Woo new chapter! ****don't forget to fave follow and review.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

An hour past sunrise of the fifth day of the grand magic games was the time chosen by Erza for her party to rest up. The journey to the centre of the island was proving challenging but fruitful. The peak was now only hours away and the party had entered the foothills of the area. The jungle was beginning to clear up as the ground became rockier but still the odd tenacious tree persisted to grow in the most awkward of places. The top of the peak was no longer visible to the party so there was no telling what was on top. Mato had told of a set of ruins at the peak which no doubt held the treasure they were seeking.

Link removed his sword and shield leaning it against a tree as he sat down with the other members of the alliance. After their fight yesterday morning, Link and Kagura had really started to get along. They gossiped and traded secrets as they wandered through the forest; Erza who had been slightly left out of their conversation couldn't help but think that they were gossiping about her. The other thing the pair of them found they enjoyed talking about were sword techniques. Erza would get quite irritated when Kagura and Link would stop randomly to demonstrate some odd skill they had developed. Still she was quite happy that the two were getting along so well and couldn't deny either of them the chance to improve their swordplay.

Iris was different all together, she tended to travel ahead of the group almost flying through the trees with incredible dexterity. She would occasionally return to the main party but only spoke when necessary, trying to avoid conversation. She now sat between Erza and Kagura not making a move towards the menial meal Link had provided, when Link had asked she simply stated that she had already eaten.

After quickly eating everyone decided it would be best to rest, they hadn't slept since yesterday morning and they wanted to be ready for whatever was waiting at the top of the island. Iris had volunteered first watch as the others slept. Link only managed an hour of sleep before he opened his eyes. He pulled himself up placing his triforce hand on the ground. He winced as it stung but ignored it forcing himself to sit. Looking at the back of his hand he saw the triforce pulse periodically. He held it up to the top of the mountain noting that the reaction increased in intensity.

He heard a voice from behind him, "Your triforce reacts stronger than Erza's," she stated. Link turned to see Iris stood arms folded against a tree.

"Yeh, I think it does," he simply said.

"You don't wonder why?"

"No, I've always found the triforce a little difficult to understand, I understand the concept but as someone who has held all three pieces at once I've felt just how complex it is."

"There is a reason," Iris stated, "the triforce is made of three separate pieces but they are also one, each one is in fact no different than the other. They are all one in the same but separate at the same time."

"You know that doesn't make sense," Link laughed,

"I doubt ordinary people can truly understand it,"

"I think your right, but it wasn't that I don't understand, when I held all three pieces and when Zelda and I made a wish on it, I couldn't help but feel that the triforce was sentient."

"Sentient?" Iris said quizzically.

"I don't know and I'm not really going to try to figure it out, as you said it's beyond mortal understanding." Link shook the theory off.

"Why are you telling me this?" Iris asked,

Link looked her directly in the eyes, they were blood red, "I trust you, you've done nothing but help me so I assume you are a friend, besides you know a lot about the triforce yourself,"

"Only what the sheikah scrolls have taught me, it pales in comparison to you who bares the mark of the triforce."

"Humph, I think you know more than you let on." Link said his eyes narrowing trying to read her.

"Of course I do, I'm sheikah it is my duty to know the things no one else is meant to know."

Link sighed, "I just don't know," he muttered under his breath. He then turned to look at the peak. "Iris, you should get some rest too, I'll keep watch for a bit." He offered.

"I am fine, you sleep."

"There is no need I've had enough sleep, besides this thing will keep me up so you sleep. You're going to have to fight too you know,"

She was about to speak again when Link looked at her, "Don't be stubborn, that's my job. Sleep don't worry I'll keep watch."

With a sigh Iris surrendered, "You're impossible," she then jumped into the tree laying on a branch.

"I know," Link said looking back at the peak. His triforce itched slightly, on a whim he held it up to Iris in the tree, the itching became painful.

(…)

Azuma stood at the foot of an enormous cliff, his eyes silently judged the height. He placed a single hand on the ground, Roran and Cryse beside him braced themselves.

"Growth," he commanded. The earth below him bulged and a tree forced it's way out of the ground it grew up the side of the cliff carrying Azuma and his comrades up the side of the cliff. It was not long before the three mages stepped of the tree to find out what was truly at the top of the peak. The view off the cliff was incredible, the island they had lived on for the past week lay out before them like a map, the three of them had no time to admire it as they looked ahead. The top of the peak was an enormous flat slab. There was little nature here just the odd patch of grass and a stubborn shrub that forced itself to grow. Azuma frowned his advantage now more or less gone. In the centre of the peak was the ruins, an enormous circular building stood ahead of them at least the size of the fighting pit in Domus Flau. The building certainly looked ruined, it was both wind and weather worn, covered in the occasional creeper. Old carvings and cave paintings of dragons and mages embellished the walls telling incomprehensible tales. The shallow domed roof of the ruin had definitely had its day and looked incredibly delicate. Azuma doubted it would last the coming fight.

Steeling their hearts the three mages stepped forward entering the building through the north door.

Surprisingly the interior was empty, it was an enormous hall with the only light source being the sun beaming through the holes in the roof and walls. In the centre of the room was an enormous archway similar to the ones that stood around the magical barrier. Just in front of it was a small altar, behind the arch was a large black broad sword with a jagged blade the guard was in the shape of wings, it sat in an ancient looking pedestal. Azuma questioned whether that was the treasure that they were looking for. The three mages of Insignia halted looking ahead, finally they had found the ones they had been hunting. Four of the five members of Dragon's Shadow stood in front of the altar. Hearing the footsteps of intruders the dark mages turned around.

The smallest member, Vaati, smirked, "It seems we have some unwanted guests, Stefan get the portal up quickly. We will deal with the intruders."

"Of course, Lord Vaati," Stefan bowed moving to the altar.

"I want the angel," Vaati decided, "I reckon I can have all kinds of fun with her," a sadistic grin spread along his face.

"That suits us, we know who we want, Hey, do mind if we play with our food?" Zancrow said eyeing Azuma,

"Who am I to say no," Vaati smiled.

"We should begin," Puldrek said in his monotonous voice.

Immediately the three mages leapt forward to meet the silent mages of Insignia. Vaati was holding a sphere of dark wind, Puldrek had drawn his sabre and Zancrow's fist was aflame.

As the attacks were about to land Insignia all jumped out of the way separating into their separate fights.

Cryse spread her wings and was immediately in the air, she spun found firing golden feathers at the purple imp. Vaati cast his arm to the side and the wind took the projectiles forcing them to miss. He smiled and summoned two balls of dark wind at his feet and arms, immediately he began to hover.

"You're not the only one who can fly." Vaati smirked, launching himself at her. The pair flew in a high speed chase around the hall, occasionally clashing with magic attacks. Both showed masterful aerial skills as the swooped through the gaps in the roof and occasionally stalled themselves to get the other hand. Cryse was giving it everything she had, her face frowned in concentration, but not one of her attacks had scored a direct hit yet. What was worse was Vaati seemed to be enjoying himself, as it were a game. Cryse wondered if he really was a child.

With a wingbeat she flew out above the ruins letting Vaati follow her, once she was high enough she spun round to face him. Holding her hand to him she called, "Holy wingbeat!" Her wings glowed gold and began to beat with incredible power forcing wind down on Vaati. It seemed to be working as it slowed him down. With a sufficient tailwind stirred up she fired dozens of feathers at him which flew at bullet speeds towards him.

"Ha, you call that breeze wind, let me show you wind. Typhoon!" He called. Immediately a tornado of black wind appeared around him growing outwards towards Cryse. The feathers were scattered, Cryse decided to try and get away from the growing typhoon and turned to fly away but found that she wasn't moving anywhere. The Imp was controlling his wind so that it sucked her in. Before she could even attempt to break free, she was sucked in. The black wind surrounded her suffocating the angel. She grasped at her throat for a moment before she saw Vaati above her. With a heel to the face she fell back into the hall taking a chunk of roof with her.

She groaned as she picked herself up, "Wind magic," she cursed,

"Aye," Vaati said, floating above her. "Perfect for destroying little angels like you!" He taunted releasing w wave of dark air.

"Steel Wing!" Cryse yelled crossing her wings across her body. They took on a metallic shine and cut through the wind.

"Humph, tenacious aren't you?"

"Oh you know it," Cryse said, "Holy Lance!"

Roran and Puldrek looked at each other. Roran had his fists raised in a defensive position small pebbles surrounded his arms as a defence against Puldrek's sabre. No doubt the masked individual was mad about losing his monster. Puldrek ran towards Roran and swiped right, Roran blocked it with his arm. Puldrek dodged a punch before firing a yellow beam at Roran who avoided it by batting the cannon away. The beam cut through the floor and up the wall. Puldrek spun round to slice again and Roran blocked again stomping to produce a pillar under the feet of Puldrek. The pillar knocked Puldrek slightly off balance but he still managed to bring his sabre down on Roran. Roran caught the blade with one hand and punched Puldrek in the stomach forcing him back. As Puldrek flew back he fired a large green shot. Roran bent sideways to avoid it by an inch before spinning round and swiping his hand to throw the stones at Puldrek like bullets. Puldrek landed skidding to stop before facing the pellets head on. With another yellow beam he cut through them turning them to dust. Roran dodged the remaining beam by jumping in the air, as he landed he smashed both fists into the ground cracking the floor. Another pillar of rock threw Puldrek into the air. Roran stood and delivered two kicks to the air.

Rocks from the ceiling descended on Puldrek while he was in the air. Puldrek decided to use them kicking off the falling rocks he launched himself at Roran and brought his sabre down on him. Roran caught it with his other hand but could not defend against the cannon shot fired at his stomach. He flew back to the north entrance of the hall. With a grimace before he launched himself at the mage again.

On the other side of the hall the two former members of Grimoire heart stood against each other.

"Heh, Azuma, gotta say I'm surprised to see you here, last I saw you, you were a fricken' tree." Zancrow laughed.

"What can I say? Tenrou Island is a strange place where miracles exist. Surely I could say the same for you, I felt you die on that island, by Zeref's hand was it not?" Azuma said.

"Aye, I was one stone cold turkey but that hardly put me down for long." Zancrow grinned.

"You're still dead." Azuma stated.

"Bingo! Anyway enough, you were always a dull conversation partner. It's time to fight, I've always wanted to know who was stronger. Perhaps you'll serve as a warm up for that bastard Natsu."

"You won't be around nearly long enough for that," Azuma challenged.

"Flame god's Scythe!" fire burst out of Zancrow's arm and he rocketed towards Azuma.

Unmoving and with a calm fury Azuma called forth his magic, "Great Tree Arc: Forestation!"

Immediately trees forced their way out of the stone floor growing in a complex web, vines formed between them and flowers bloomed, Zancrow flew right into the growing magic and got himself caught up in the forest. It wasn't long until nearly a quarter of the hall was fully forested. Zancrow released himself for, the vines that held using his black flames. Standing in the middle of a charred clearing, he looked around with his sharp red eyes knowing that Azuma could be anywhere. He felt it before it even hit, a fist of wood soared at him from behind. He dodged it deftly before meeting a second head on smashing it into splinters.

"What not using your explosives Treeman?" Zancrow taunted.

"I am no fool Zancrow," Azuma's voice echoed, "You would just eat the fire based ones, it's these you need to look out for,"

Zancrow stepped back and there was an instant explosion at his feet. Zancrow attempted to eat the explosion before it did significant damage but found it impossible.

"Humph, you're arrogance was always your weakness." Azuma concluded as pinecones flew at the god slayer. Zancrow blocked them using his fire letting them explode in the flames. He soon realised that Azuma's explosives were no longer fire based, but were simply pure energy.

"Heh, why don't you come out and fight me like a man?" Zancrow taunted.

"I have said before I am no fool. Fighting you at close proximity is just asking for my defeat. Folium Sica," he called and huge tornadoes of leaves flew at Zancrow. Zancrow once again simply burned through the leaves, getting very annoyed.

"Fine then, if you're not gonna come out and play. Flame god's Explosive Flame!" instantly a vortex of black fire surrounded his body and began to spread turning the trees to ash.

"Transpiration!" Azuma called, immediately every pore of every tree released water into the air making the fake forest incredibly humid. The edges of Zancrow's flames began to die down,

"As if, my flames are made of much hotter stuff," in an instant the fire grew enormous bursting through the makeshift forest. All of a sudden there was an explosion to Zancrow's left knocking him to the side, then another to his right then many more. They tore at his body blasting him in every direction as his fire swirled around them. It was a cunning trap of Azuma's part, his forest had been filled with exploding nuts and fruits and all they needed was some ignition to set them off. By the time the forest had gone Azuma stood paces away from Zancrow who was lying on the floor.

"Zancrow you are easily much stronger than me but your arrogance clouds your judgement and allows me to do stuff like this." Azuma kicked the God slayer knocking him onto his back. He realised too late the mistake he had made.

"Flame god's undercut!" Zancrow said spinning round kicking Azuma's legs to knock him down. He then stood up and grabbed Azuma's neck before the tree mage could defend himself. He lifted the mage up until his feet were no longer touching the ground. "I'll admit your attack got me good but you underestimate me. In fact you underestimate all of Dragon's shadow."

Immediate after he said this Cryse burst through a hole in the roof once again she landed with a scream. Vaati landed in front of her as she forced herself up. She was holding a long golden lance that exuded power but Azuma cursed as he saw the awful state her wings were in. No doubt the imp had been simply toying with her.

"You guys simply don't understand do you? You have no hope of beating us." Vaati claimed. Cryse thrusted her lance but it was deflected as Vaati kicked it. "We are far above you! So far we have transcended humanity itself."

"What in Earthland are you on about?" Azuma gasped struggling to escape Zancrow's iron grip.

"You can't beat us because we are renewed, more powerful than ever. Every single one of us have become demons, Demons of Tartaros." Vaati crowed. The three mages of Dragon's shadow were instantly surrounded by a sickly black aura. The mages of Insignia flinched as the magical pressure surrounding them began to increase.

Roran, in annoyance of the fight, steeled himself, "And as if that makes any difference, you're still just a bunch of lowlife dark mages and backing down ain't our style." His voice then turned emotionless and his eyes appeared dead, "Puldrek, it's time to finish this."

Puldrek faced him boldly and held his cannon out in front of him, it began charging a black orb forming at the head of the cannon. Soon the cannon was fully charged. Puldrek looked at Roran from behind his mask meeting his eyes, "Witness the true power of an Etherious Demon. Cursed Shell." Immediately the cannon exploded firing an enormous beam of horrifying dark energy Roran stood fast as it approached ignoring Cryse's scream.

Calmly he raised his hands ahead of him, "Rock Magic Ultimate Form: Diamond Screen!"

Immediately the true potential of Roran's rock magic was shown as in front of him a screen of pure diamond erupted from the ground, shielding him from the attack. None could deny the beauty of the spell. The diamond was laced with stunning magic circles boosting its defensive power. Puldrek's attack met the shield pushing against it with monumental force. After but a moment the atack ended and Roran stood unscathed behind the magic shield. "Diamond Storm!" he said with a grimace, the shield shattered and thousands of diamonds began to glow white as they surrounded the rock mage. Roran released the diamonds and they whistled towards Puldrek piercing his leather armour and knocking him to the floor before he could even attempt to dodge. Instead of a human's red blood, a black ooze leaked out of Puldrek's wounds. With a hoarse cough the lights under the man's mask faded.

"Tch, weak," Zancrow said turning away from the pitiful corpse, he glared at Azuma, "Well Azuma, i have to say i expected more, this is where we part ways. Flame God's judgement." Zancrow smashed Azuma into the ground and cloak him with flames. Azuma lay in a crater defeated. Zancrow set his fist on fire ready to finish the mage off but ended up hitting nothing but solid earth. Zancrow grimaced as Azuma's face faded into the soil in between the cracked tiles.

Roran grimaced but stood strong, at least Azuma had escaped. He turned towards Vaati. Vaati's long purple hair flowed gently behind him, his eyes were shaded by his fringe. A smirk broke out from the imp, the smirk evolved into a chuckle and then into a full blown hysteric laugh.

"I like you, rock mage" Vaati said replacing his laughter with a sadistic grin, "you have spirit," he looked into Roran's eyes, "breaking it will be so much fun."

He thrust a hand towards Cryse "God slayer's Vacuum," black wind flew from his hand. Before Cryse could avoid it the wind had her. She struggled, surrounded by black air as it lifted her off the ground.

"Cryse!" Roran shouted as he watched her grasp at her throat.

"God slaying magic. Magic made to combat the gods. I wonder how well it works on fake angels" Vaati grinned sadistically.

"Let go of her you bastard!" Roran yelled,

"You want me to stop? Come and make me!" Vaati said challenging Roran with his free hand.

Roran, in rage, stomped raising two pillars of stone next to him he then kicked them to make them fall onto Vaati. Vaati cackled and easily avoided them landing on the pillars as the smashed to pieces the ground. Just as he was about to ask if that was all Roran had, stones from the domed ceiling plummeted towards him.

Vaati raised a fist casting his wind into them wearing them down until they were nothing but sand. At this Roran yelled coating his arm in rubble from the pillars and ran towards him to punch him. Vaati smiled as he approached raising his own fist which was a quarter of the size of Roran's. Coating it in magic he slammed it down on Roran blasting him into the ground.

Vaati grinned, "You're weak rock mage, Hurry and get up, so I can prove just how futile this all is,"

Shaking Roran forced himself to stand. "That's it," Vaati teased, "You're doing well, but if you think you can save your pretty friend over there you're quite mistaken."

Roran looked over to Cryse, she was on her last legs. Once again Roran coated his arm in rock and turned to Vaati. He made out to punch the mage but swiftly feinted and punched the floor. A huge wall of rock encased the god slayer, buying Roran just enough time. Enough time to punch his girlfriend in the stomach.

Cryse coughed up blood as she was blasted into a nearby wall. The dark wind dissipated as Vaati broke out of his shell. His eyes had turned a terrifying shade of red, and enraged he cast the darkest spell he could muster. A wave of darkness flew towards Roran striking him and sapping his life away. Roran however smiled content as he saw the blue light that saved Cryse. Feeling his energy fade he closed his eyes content that the one he loved was safe. Heat and unimaginable pain in his torso was the next thing the mage felt before his mind faded.


	45. Before the End

**Chapter 45 - Before the End**

**So this is it, the last filler before the big climax. Enjoy!**

**Don't forget to fave and follow for more, and dont forget reviews really help!**

* * *

Natsu was a mess, his clothes were torn, his hair was tangled and he was covered in dirt. Scratches, scrapes and bruises covered his body but he paid no mind to them, he was only standing thanks to sheer willpower and a bucket load of adrenaline. He was exuding an incredible amount of heat and on top of that electricity was crackling between his fingers.

He surveyed the scene in front of him. The enormous ruined hall surrounded him, the walls were embellished with paintings and murals of great battles between dragon and man. He could feel the significance of this place from the power is released, it was both hallowed and cursed, ruined but whole. Many battles had be fought here and many had yet to come. Stood in front of him were the remaining members of Dragon's shadow, his targets for this battle. A blue light flashed to his side signifying the teleportation of the recently defeated rock mage. Natsu dispelled the fire in his fist, thankful that the mage was out of the way.

Vaati glared at the dragon slayer, he looked pissed. Natsu didn't care. Without a word, the two prepared their attacks, ready to blast each other into oblivion. That was until a until a certain blonde god slayer stood between them.

"Sorry, Vaati but I've been after this one for a while, let me handle this, you help Stefan out." He told him.

Vaati looked at him with furious eyes. "Fine, do what you want. Just make it quick, i want him gone by the time this all begins."

"Excellent," Zancrow said turning to Natsu, "Good to see you again runt, you look awful by the way, someing on your face?"

Natsu grinned, he knew of course he was referring to the black and white marks running up his body from Sting and Rogues elements but he wasnt going to reveal that just yet, "I reckon I'm still better looking than you," Natsu taunted. "You ready for another beat down?"

"Don't get cocky punk, things are different this time." Zancrow announced.

"Aye, they are." Natsu said, flooding his fists with magic power.

(…)

Meanwhile in the forests below the peak three children lead their sworn protector through the jungle. Everyone was silent as they could hear the foreboding explosions coming from the top of the peak. The battle had already begun and the three children were quite apprehensive to climb the mountain and see what was going on. Still without saying a word the team trudged on.

Mace Orlando closed his eyes, using his magic to sense what was ahead. He could not quite see what was at the top of the mountain but he could feel a presence close by. A dark one and unfortunately it was approaching no doubt looking for a fight.

Mace stopped the children, stepping out in front of them and holding his arm out in a defensive position. His sharp eyes turned to the source of the dark presence.

"Show yourself demon." The mage ordered there was a distinct ruthlessness in his voice. Aaron, Chelia and Hero flinched at his new harshness.

There was a hearty laugh and from nowhere a man appeared pulling a silvery cloak off himself. He looked to the band of mages and shifted his glasses up his nose. "A couple of brats and their guardian how cute."

"Rustyrose," Mace stated, "Separated from your little band of you call a guild were you?"

"Aye, then again, sure it is a mild set back but my time will be much better spent down here, nothing can go wrong today, for today marks the birth of the new world."

"Right, well I'll tell you how that goes once I've put an end to it, hey?" Mace taunted

"Very funny, but you don't stand a chance. Hmm, I see you have the brat from sabre-tooth in your party. I hope he can put up more of a fight than the last one."

"What do you mean? There's no way you could beat anyone from my guild." Aaron said defensively.

"Already did, stupid fool thinking memories could beat imagination."

"Rufus." Aaron realised, "What did you do to him?" Aaron shouted.

At this Rustyrose just grinned sadistically and stayed silent.

"You bastard!" The red head yelled in rage,

"No Aaron don't" Mace yelled as the child smashed both his fists into the ground.

It was too late Lava erupted from the ground which Rustyrose immediately avoided before placing one hand on his glasses and stretching out the other. "Lava Serpent!" he called and immediately the lava fell under his will and began to snake around the jungle setting it on fire. When it had fully taken the form of a 30 foot serpent it became sentient and attacked the children.

The children were about to jump out of the way to avoid it but mace stood firm taking up a strong combat stance and placing both his hands in a ball shape by his left hip. Just as the serpent was about to crash into him he loosed a sphere of pure energy from his hands that took the form of blue fire. The sphere cut through the serpent with insane power, splitting it in two. The lava fell to the ground. Mace glared at Rustyrose with his fiery blue eyes. The kids and Rustyrose flinched at the magical power he was giving off. Mace removed his cloak dropping it onto the floor closing his eyes. Immediately blue fire began to flow around him being released from every point in his body. As he finished focusing his energy he said with a powerful whisper. "The Aura is with me," and opened his eyes. In a flash the mage had disappeared and had launched himself towards Rustyrose with a vengeance. Rustyrose barely managed to dodge as a kick covered in the blue fire sailed right past him.

Hero gasped watching the magic suddenly realising what is was, "No way, That's…"

"Aura magic!" Chelia gasped, "Magic made from pure life force, it's supposed to be a myth,"

Aaron looked on astonished at the power, it was easily equal to Sting and Rogue's magic, dare he say it, it could be even stronger.

Retreating a few paces Rustyrose called to his magic, "Armour of God!" Immediately a black plated suit of armour coated his entire body, although melee combat was not Rustyrose's forte the armour increased his attack, defence and speed so that he could easily match most opponents. He then launched his own attack. The pair's punches collided whipping up a gale force wind around them. Rustyrose then wheeled round for a kick which Mace blocked. Rustyrose continued his onslaught but Mace easily defended his attacks, calmly deflecting the punches and waiting for an opening.

It was not long before he found one. Rustyrose lost balance leaving himself wide open. Mace then thrust forward placing a single palm of the mage's chest he released a huge amount of energy, launching Rustyrose back into the forest. With a burst of speed Mace ran to catch up with the armoured mage and began his own onslaught. This was much more one-sided. Every aura fuelled punch hit its mark ignoring the impenetrable armour that simply stood as an annoyance. Swiftly, Mace delivered an uppercut to Rustyrose launching him into the air before jumping up with him grabbing the man and tossing him back down to earth with an almighty crash. Trees around them fell from the sheer impact of the landing. Mace stood above Rustyrose as the armour faded. Rustyrose pulled himself up, the beating he had taken had been bad but it was times like this he was happy for the regenerative properties of the demon blood in his body.

With another grin he held a hand to the sky and yelled, "Chains of Hell!" immediately dozens of black chains erupted from the earth each capped with black and red daggers. They soared towards Mace who braced himself. Just as they were about to collide he jumped avoiding them. They soon, however, redirected themselves back towards him. Again Mace avoided them all with intricate movements. He continued this for some time before realising they weren't going to stop so Mace resorted to new measures.

"Requip, Fated Blade." He ordered, with a flash of light a sword appeared in the mages hand, the blade appeared fragile, it was made of glass with a dark silver hilt. However the second it touched him it lit up blue fire surrounding it showing that the blade was more than it appeared to be. Mace turned and carved his way through the chains launched at him, destroying a few of them in a single clean sweep. The ones that made it through, Mace managed to avoid until one caught him offguard and implanted itself into his leg. With grunt of pain Mace attempted to cut through it but the blade just bounced off with a metallic ring. Mace cursed as a second embedded itself into his shoulder and a third into his side.

Chelia screamed as she saw red leak through Mace's armour. Hero watched as Rustyrose laughed and approached the Aura mage summoning his own claw shaped sword. He held the blade to Mace's throat, "I expected more," the man said.

Hero suddenly heard a voice in his head, _"Hey, Kid you can stop my bleeding right?"_ he heard, looking over to Mace he realised it was Mace speaking. He nodded holding his hands out causing Mace to grin.

Rustyrose raised the blade and just as it was about to hit Mace, the guardian shouted "Phase,"

The blade sailed right through his body and the chains fell to the ground. Mace threw himself forward moving ethereally through Rustyrose much to his surprise. His spell ended and Hero could now stop his bleeding.

"Sanguinem Reditum," he cast and immediately the blood returned inside Mace's body. Rustyrose enraged turned and swiped at Mace with his blade. Mace grinned and easily defended, placing a palm on his own blade to stop Rustyrose's blade in front of him. Rustyrose grimaced and attempted to retreat but received a punch from behind. He turned to face a second Mace one that was not holding his sword. Turning back there were now another two Maces. Rustyrose panicked, confused as he saw at least half a dozen clones launch themselves towards him. He went for the best approach he could imagining pure energy bursting from his body. It succeeded spreading outwards destroying the clones until only the real mace was left. The real mace hoover managed to cut through the energy with a karate chop before standing on his hand and kicking Rustyrose in the face.

Rustyrose fell to the floor in a rage, throwing his glasses off. "NO!" he yelled, "I'm a demon now I'm supposed to be unbeatable."

"Even demons aren't invincible especially half-baked ones like you," Mace stated, "I could tell from the start, you're no doubt another of Kyouka's toys."

Rustyrose grimaced as he was backed into a corner, he knew he only had one final escape. He looked at the children and grinned. "Tentacles of the Deep."

Thick tentacles erupted from the ground, each instantly soared towards the nearest life form they could find, the children. The children screamed as the tentacles wound round them, constricting them painfuly. All three children attempted to use their magic to escape to no avail. The tentacle creatures appeared to be sucking all the magic power out them making their attacks useless.

Mace grimaced and lowered his head, his eyes were shadowed by his fringe. Rustyrose laughed in glee, "HA! Now I'm in control, you take one step and I will crush every one of these children. Don't think I won't, nasty pests they are, we won't have any need for them in the new world. Then again they may work well as slaves."

"Shut the hell up, demon" Mace said. He looked up, his eyes flashing blue. "You picked the wrong fight pal, and now you're gonna pay for it." He held out his hand and a blue fire spread across it. "Do you understand what this is?"

Rustyrose examined the fire it just seemed like ordinary fire, it was colder perhaps but still dangerous. "I haven't got time for your gam…"

"This is pure aura," Mace announced as it began to spread up his arm, "Pure life energy, one of the lost magics. The interesting thing about aura is anyone can control it, whenever you feel happy or sad, angry or determined that's your aura changing, becoming more powerful." It was now spreading over his chest, "Needless to say the beauty of this magic is the angrier you are and the more you have to lose the more powerful it becomes." Mace now stood straight towering over Rustyrose, his body now merely a shadow inside the fire surrounding him, "In case you haven't noticed I'm pretty pissed, and you are threatening the lives of these youngsters. Now my Aura's all worked up and you're gonna pay the price."

"Ha, fool I told you if you make a single move i…"

There was an explosion surrounding Mace and three Spheres of aura were cast out striking each group of tentacles and destroying them completely. The three children fell to the ground. Rustyrose looked shocked then furious as Mace turned to face him.

"Ghosts of Britt… Ugh." Rustyrose went flying as Mace punched him in the stomach. He collided with a tree coughing up blood. He collapsed onto his hands and knees winded and weak. Mace stood above him, "Can't keep hell waiting can I." And with that Mace pointed a single hand at him. "Aura Devil's Light." With a flash of blue light Rustyrose permanently left the world of light.

Chelia, Hero and Aaron watched wide mouthed from the ground, "A Devil slayer," Chelia stated. Mace stood straight, silhouetted by the blue fire that covered the tree. He looked round to the children with a sad look in his eye and collapsed onto one knee.

"Heh, that always takes it out of me, you shouldn't have had to see that," he stated looking at the kids. The children stayed silent resting from the attack. "Listen, now I know what we're up against, I need you kids to forfeit the Grand Magic Games, hopefully they will return you to Crocus, once you are there I need you to call your guilds together and prepare for what is to come. Then head straight to the masters of Lamia scale and Mermaid Heel, tell them it's time to gather the nine."

"But what are you gonna do?" Hero asked,

"What I can, this fight isn't over yet there are four more demons at the top of that peak and I have a feeling not all of them are Kyouka's enhancements." Mace now stood up, "Don't worry about me, worry about everyone else, who knows what's going to happen."

The three children nodded. "Good luck," Hero wished,

Chelia ran up to embrace the aura guardian, "You'd better come back alive,"

"Yeah, and when that happens you better have some fight left cos' you'll be taking us on." Aaron said with a grin.

"Aaron!" Chelia chastised, "That's rude,"

"Heh, Chelia relax, I look forward to it, but don't think I'll be going easy on you." Mace grinned, "Now get going there is no time to spare."

The children looked reluctantly at Mace almost in tears.

Aaron went first, "I Aaron Helm of Sabre-tooth, forfeit the Grand Magic Games." After a few seconds there was a flash of light, "I'll see you guys later."

Chelia and Hero followed on leaving Mace alone. Mace walked over to where he had left his cloak. He picked it up and put it on. He looked to the top of the peak, knowing it was unlikely he was going to come out of this alive. Looking back to where the kids had once stood he sighed. He would do it for them for their futures. Flooding his legs with aura he jumped beginning his ascent up the peak.

(…)

"Twilight Flame Dragon's Claw!" Natsu yelled as he delivered a round house kick towards Zancrow. Zancrow caught the leg and threw Natsu over his head towards the walls of the ruin. Natsu managed to spin round and launch himself off the wall, he surrounded himself in a mix of fire, shadow and light shouting, "Twilight Flame Dragon's Sword Horn,"

He collided with the black fire coating Zancrow's fists. The attacks cancelled each other out.

"Flame God's Bellow!" Zancrow yelled, launching a fireball of black flame towards Natsu.

Natsu coated his entire arm in his magic and sliced downwards cutting through the explosive attack. Zancrow screamed in rage, "Flame God's Supper!" he yelled launching even more fire at him in the shape of a large fanged mouth. Natsu avoided it by jumping into the air and firing his Twilight Flame Dragon's roar. Zancrow took the full brunt of the attack in anger.

He had to admit the little brat was strong, and Zancrow couldn't simply eat his attacks like he could last time due to the other elements mixed in there. How he had managed to get them into his attack Zancrow had no idea but it frustrated him to no end. Every attack he threw out Natsu was able to counter or avoid, he had never had this much trouble with a stupid mage before and was even beginning to doubt his own abilities.

Zancrow loosed another fireball at Natsu when he noticed something. Natsu was bleeding out of his ears. That meant he was near his limit if Zancrow just held out a bit longer he could destroy the cocky bastard and have done with it.

When Zancrow didn't return Natsu's attack Natsu stopped landing lightly. He instantly felt his fatigue. His stomach felt as if it was going to turn inside out at any moment. It was a far worse feeling than his motion sickness. He decided he needed to finish Zancrow now so he could move on to the others. Once he had done that all he had to do was defend whatever the treasure was and then win the grand magic games. He didn't know if Erza and Link were still around but they doubted that they'd had any trouble so they should arrive soon.

Zancrow raised his hands to the sky a ball of black flame began to form above him. He was no doubt preparing for a powerful attack.

Natsu decided it was time to bring out his own, he charged his magic up and was instantly surrounded in power. His pupils turned white and he yelled as he drew on every ounce of power he had.

Zancrow launched his fireball at Natsu shouting, "Flame God's Almighty Inferno!"

The ball of black flame rolled towards Natsu and struck him exploding on impact. Natsu yelled from within the flame and Zancrow smiled in victory.

However his smile faded almost as quickly as his attack did, Natsu wasn't yelling in pain he was yelling because of the sheer amount of magic power he was unleashing. Zancrow's gut twisted, and he looked towards Vaati and Stefan for help. The pair just stood watching mercilessly. Vaati grinned and mouthed a single word. "Weak."

Zancrow cried out, "Wait buddy ther…"

"Twilight Flame Dragon's Sun." Natsu said with equal mercilessness. He then released the attack. A beam of blinding fire soared towards Zancrow and consumed him. Zancrow screamed in pain as the beam soared straight through him and destroyed the wall behind him ruining the hall even more.

Zancrow fell to his knees, and even before the rest of his unconscious body hit the ground a blue light overtook him and he disappeared into nothing.

Natsu sighed and looked to the sky, his entire body was steaming from the insane heat he was giving off. He grinned, he no longer felt ill. For the first time he had managed to totally clear himself of any foreign elements. Maybe this meant he would need less recovery. He looked to his left. Two more, he thought, two more until I can see her again. His mind wandered to his girlfriend and he smiled.

Suddenly he was disturbed from his thoughts by a laugh to his side, it was light and impish. He turned and with a scowl he simply said, "Shut it, Purps,"

Vaati ignored him and continued to laugh, "Oh, I like you. You're pretty damn strong. A fight with you is really enticing." He claimed.

"Why don't you then? Let's get this over with, I still have fuel left in the burner." Natsu claimed.

"Hmm, that's a good offer. But I will have to decline I'm afraid Zancrow is not the only one who wanted to fight you."

"Who, Glasses there?" Natsu asked.

"You'll see. Ahh I believe we have more guests excellent the more the merrier." Vaati grinned turning to the other door.

Natsu turned to face the south entrance. Four mages entered, the person at the front carried a blade covered in light. The triforce on his hand shone like a sun, illuminating the three women behind him. Erza, Iris and Kagura all drew their weapons and walked with Link until they were half way between the entrance and the centre of the room. Here they stopped and faced the final members if Dragon's shadow.

"Haha," Vaati chortled, "Just on time,"

"Vaati!" Link called his voice echoing forebodingly around the hall. "It's over you can't beat five of us. So surrender and tell us what you are planning." He ordered.

"Ha, It's over is it? You're dumber than you look, this is only the beginning. As for our plan I'm afraid you have far underestimated the climax of this event." Vaati announced.

"It is complete we can now open the portal," Stefan said next to him.

"Perfect, do it." Vaati ordered. Stefan nodded and placed his hand on the altar and the archway lit up, a blue mist surrounded it and all of a sudden those looking through the archway would no longer see the other side of the hall as it was replaced by a completely different scene. It appeared to be a dark hall lit only with blue flames, strange silhouettes stood out from the background growing as they approached. Vaati and Stefan immediately whipped round to the other side of the altar and bowed towards the archway.

"What's happening? Why are they bowing?" Natsu asked stupidly looking round.

"They are coming," Link said his grip tightened around the Master sword as he prayed to the goddesses of creation.

Natsu looked round and gasped in shock as Zeref and his entire host of demons walked out of the portal.


	46. The Battle in the Hall

**Chapter 46 - The Battle in the Hall**

**Well i goofed up. Some of you may have realised that i accidentely posted next weeks chapter yesterday. Which is annoying because it kinda ruins the big cliff hanger i had. Ah well, this is the chapter that was meant to come out yesterday which i thought was already out. So to refresh last time was the battles: Rustyrose vs mace and Natsu vs Zancrow ending in Zancrow and RustyRoses defeat. **

**It is after that Vaati opened the portal to the cube and Zeref walks into the hall.**

**I will not be reposting next weeks chapter until next week because i need more time to write the chapter after if you dont mind so i apologise to all those who have already read it. **

**Anyway fave and follow if you enjoyed it and pleeeaaase review for gold stars!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Zeref walked into the room with a tired expression. His ancient black robe hung loosely around his shoulders lacking the white sash that usually flowed across his body. An orange haired woman wearing a violet suit stood to his left, Link and Erza recognised her as Abaddon, the former leader of Insignia and a master necromancer. To his right a tall effeminate man with dark hair tied into a high ponytail, he was wearing a strange smile that would make most people shiver. The crossed keys of Tartaros were easy to see on his robes. Behind them a whole host of demons major and minor entered the great hall.

"Master Zeref, Welcome to the Theatre of the Dragon King, you should know that he is already on his way." Vaati said with a smirk.

"Good." Zeref said with indifference. He then stepped in front of Vaati and extended a hand to the imp, "Vaati, you have no need to bow to me, you are the Prince of Winds and my trusted ally,"

"Aye, but you are the Prince of Darkness, I should show my respect." Vaati replied taking his hand and standing.

Zeref looked to the small band of mages stood behind the altar. "It appears you have run into trouble, your numbers have dwindled," He told Vaati meeting the eyes of Link and Natsu.

Vaati smiled and respectfully bowed his head. "Well, it should be no trouble now you are here, milord,"

Zeref remained silent staring Natsu straight in the eyes. "This meeting is no doubt fated," Zeref whispered to himself. "On the precipice of the new age there will always be resistance."

Natsu noticed the mark on Zeref's neck, two crossed keys in black stood out. "Tartaros," He announced noticing similar marks on the demons behind the dark wizard.

Zeref held his arms out, "The Demons of Tartaros," he introduced, "As their creator, I have been chosen to lead them towards our goal."

"And what is that goal?" Link stepped forward and asked.

Zeref regarded him with a cold eye, "You won't live long enough to find out," He stated bringing a single hand up. He then clicked and the seemingly more important demons behind him began to move. They stood in a ring around the portal facing outwards they held their hands out and began a long incantation. Abaddon moved to the altar and started to work on something different. Zeref stood between the altar and the mages of light, Vaati and Stefan followed and flanked either side of Zeref.

Zeref held out his hand, "Ankhseram Death Pulse," He said. A wave of black magic flew towards the five mages. Natsu was going to defend himself with his own flames but Link immediately jumped in the way, the master sword glowing brightly. He sliced through the magic without any trouble defending the other four mages.

Zeref watched, momentarily in a state of shock. Only once before had his black magic been countered and that was done by Natsu. He sighed, it was time to stop holding back, time to finally crush the cockroach that was Fairy Tail.

"Zeref, what are you planning?" Link yelled, desperately trying to unravel the dark mages plans.

Zeref answered by simply clapping his hands together. "Living Magic, Demon Swarm," the sky went dark and shadowed particles flew in from the ceiling.

"Link, Natsu, get back. This is the magic he used to create the etherious demons." Erza shouted. The pair of them took a step back as the number of particles began to build producing a thick fog in the hall. The particles quickly began to gravitate towards each other, slowly becoming corporeal bodies. Very quickly an entire army of black demonic abominations had been produced.

"Hmm, You're living magic is as powerful as ever." Vaati stated.

Zeref coldly regarded the compliment, "Vaati, Stefan, keep them occupied, I will support Abaddon and the casting of the magic circle."

Vaati and Stefan both led the newly produced demons to attack and Zeref turned back to the true demons of Tartaros.

"Oh no you don't, Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" Natsu yelled, descending on Zeref with a flaming fist. Zeref only realised just on time and managed to avoid it as Natsu smashed into the ground where he once stood. The dragon slayer swung round with a flaming kick which Zeref naturally avoided. Zeref retreated a few paces as Natsu stopped. "You and me Zeref, right now."

Zeref turned to face the dragon, "It is far too late for that, you were not ready on time," Zeref stated monotonously.

"Don't underestimate me, I am more ready now than I ever have been before," Natsu said. "Fire Dragon's roar!"

Zeref held his hand out stopping the attack with ease. "Fine, let us see how you have grown, brother."

(...)

On the other side of the hall demons swarmed the other four mages. They ranged in size going from tiny ankle biters to enormous bear sized demons. All of them were grotesque to look at and many had deformities that still didn't stop them from clawing, biting or using crude magic to attack. Erza tore through the sea of demon's with powerful strokes of her two longswords. She had already switched into her heaven's wheel armour and occasionally would fire blades out at the demons that attempted ranged attacks. Individually the demons were stupidly weak however as a growing swarm even Erza was hard pressed to defend against them all. It never took very long after cutting one demon down for another two to take its place. Erza could instantly tell that this would be a battle of endurance.

When she had a moment's respite she glanced over to her boyfriend and saw a terrifying sight. She had seen Link fight, his combat style had always been flawless, the perfect balance of efficiency, speed and power. This however was on a whole new level. He was a monster, his sword flew through demon upon demon cutting through them as if they were nothing but water. Blood danced around him looking as if it were suspended in mid-air, his eyes shone between the streams like shards of ice. Erza remembered she had seen this before almost a year ago. The first time they had met he looked the same. She realised at that point she was no longer seeing the Mage of Fairy Tail but the Hero of Legend and that idea terrified her.

As she tore through the neck of another demon she saw a much larger one approach Link from behind. It raised a fist covered in darkness ready to hit Link's blindside, Erza acted completely on instinct, shooting her left arm out she roared, "Din's Fire!" The triforce on her hand glowed brightly and a bolt of fire erupted from it rocketing towards the Demon. Link turned around just on time to witness the fireball explode as it hit the demon eradicating it from existence.

Link, in surprise, looked over to Erza and the ice in his eyes melted. He grinned cheekily as she carved her way towards him. She returned with a smile as she spun round so they were back to back. "Are we going to do that?" Link asked almost jovially.

"Oh, I don't know I mean you seemed to be enjoying fighting on your own." Erza teased.

"Really Erza? You should know better than anyone that I'm never truly alone." Link said catching her eyes.

"Link?" Erza said as her heart skipped a beat.

"I mean, I've always got Fi," Link said before receiving an elbow to the side.

"Jerk,"

"Let's go," Link said shield bashing a demon ahead of him.

"Right," The couple launched themselves at the enemy and began to tear through the foe, working together in perfect unison. With each other's backs covered they could go all out and rip through Zeref's demons. Their enchanting dance would be terrifying to spectators, but neither had any time to wonder if there were still people spectating the event. Link held his sword to the sky and Erza flooded her angel blades with energy before they both turned and sped at each other. The just as they were to collide the pair spun round with a horizontal slash. The energy from each blade was released at once both releasing sword beams that joined together to produce a circle of magic that sliced through the surrounding demons. Felling them like trees in a forest.

As the demons fell, they faded from existence. Leaving the way clear for the next wave of abominations.

"Getting tired?" Erza asked,

"Heh, as if," Link grinned. The Green Warrior of Fairy Tail had returned if only for now.

(...)

Kagura held her katana firmly pointing it towards the demon that was approaching her. Stefan smiled from behind his glasses, his lab coat flowed behind him. The battlefield around them was clear of the lesser demons, they had already occupied themselves with Link and Erza leaving Stefan to deal with the ace of Mermaid Heel. Kagura grimaced thinking back to their last encounter, her mind ran through possibilities as to her opponent's magic. Last time it was hardly a second before Arana was defeated, and the wounds she had been dealt were far too numerous and severe to have been dealt in that time. There was only one kind of magic she could think of, Slowing magic. A type of time manipulation magic that slowed down time in the surroundings while maintaining the user's normal speed. She prepared herself as he approached channelling the fury she felt towards him.

"Well, looks like I get to destroy another mermaid, you don't know how happy that makes me."

"You really must be eager to taste my blade demon." Kagura taunted.

"Ha, we will see." With those words the world around them began to slow down. Kagura blinked in surprise as she watched projectiles stop in mid-flight and demons halt in their tracks. "Hmm, I see, like most you are too foolish to comprehend my magic."

Kagura grimaced preparing for any possibility. "You see my magic is very different. I have not slowed down time but produced an entirely new dimension that exists outside of time. No matter how much time passes here no time will pass outside making my magic the most efficient magic imaginable."

Kagura almost smiled, "Well that make this easy, all I have to do is beat you up in here in the same way I would beat you out there." At this Stefan grinned. Kagura charged towards Stefan her blade slicing through the air with an ear-piercing whistle. As she got close enough she went for a diagonal strike. The deadly blade sailed towards with intense speed until. Kagura stopped moving, no she had slowed down and so had he. Stefan smiled as he bent back hand still in his pockets. The sword flew over him harmlessly before time for Stefan sped up again. Stefan placed his hands on the floor behind his head and kicked Kagura in the chin as he flipped himself back upright. Kagura flew back only just being able to land safely using her free hand.

"You forget this world belongs to me, and so do its laws, everything in here is mine to control, in here you're are fighting a god."

Kagura charged again but before she could even get close, her feet began to sink. She looked below to find that the stone floor had turned into water. It immediately reformed trapping Kagura in the stone floor.

Stefan laughed, "It never fails to impress me how many idiots fall for that simple trick. I told you remember I control this world, I can turn stone to water, air into fire, blood into metal. With my alchemy magic nothing is out of my control." he then approached Kagura, "You know your friend Arana fell for exactly the same trick and now you are going to find out what happened next."

Kagura charged magic into her blade spun it round and stabbed the ground. "Strong Form!" she shouted. The ground shattered, freeing her legs. With incredible force she erupted from the Earth and spun round in mid-air ready. "Slashing Form!" her blade glowed as she descended on Stefan. Stefan pulled out a bottle opening it and casting the liquid in between him and his foe.

"Mercury!" Stefan yelled. Instantly the liquid changed from a transparent yellow colour to an opaque silver. Kagura's blade hit the liquid and absorbed the attack, protecting Stefan. "Acid," Stefan went on to say. The liquid turned clear and Kagura fell through it. She screamed in pain as she fell to the floor. She quickly dragged herself up and spun as fast as she could removing the acid from as much of her as possible. The acid burned through her clothes leaving it in tatters, the drops that got onto her skin burned like wildfire but she tried to ignore it. Unfortunately her sword took most of the acid and was already melting away in her hands leaving just the hilt and a small section of dull blade.

"Oil to mercury, mercury to acid. You understand now don't you? Have you heard of the hormone oestrogen?" Kagura looked at him blankly with a scowl. "No, I suppose you brutish types don't learn these things. It is a hormone found in almost all living creatures, however a higher concentration can be found in females than in males…"

As Stefan pointlessly explained his magic, Kagura's mind ran. She had to find a weakness. He could control time and matter in this dimension however he could not control anything that would affect him too. That's why he used oil instead of water in his defence. But in that case why hadn't he just changed her now ruined sword into water? Perhaps he couldn't alter materials he didn't have full comprehension of. She also knew that he couldn't create matter if he could he would have done it already. She continued to plan as he continued his lecture on the function of oestrogen when she figured it out. For some reason this guy had to explain his every attack, his hubris shown by having to show off his intelligence. That could prove advantageous, especially if he gets frustrated at not being able to explain. She looked around as her surroundings. How far did this dimension reach, no doubt it must be fairly localised otherwise the others would be moving at their speed. What would happen if she ran at the edges of the dimension? She had finally planned her next attack.

She took a single step back and prepared herself, charging magic into her legs, she needed to be faster this time. She prepared what was left of her blade for her attack. As Stefan midsentence she launched herself at him, approaching at a speed at least double his reaction time. Rocks from the loose earth below flew back behind her. Once she was close enough she feinted an attack causing him to avoid it with a horrifying scowl. She then spun around taking note of her surroundings, she smiled before attacking Stefan again savagely.

"Lead." Stefan yelled. Instantly Kagura's body felt heavy. Her latest attack became over balanced causing her to overshoot miss and fall below Stefan.

"Were you not listening fool, I said trying that is futile, your body is packed with extraordinary concentrations of oestrogen whereas mine contains significantly less. All I needed to do was turn it all into lead and your body would destroy itself." Kagura cursed but she knew what she was doing, she pulled herself on to all fours before launching herself forward with every ounce of strength she had. The ground shattered below her and flew back behind her. The rocks she had cast back earlier had fallen still in mid-air at the edge of the dimension, telling her all she needed to know. She could escape if she made it to the edge of the dimension. This however was a gamble, the single way she could outsmart this demon.

Stefan was surprised she could move with the lead in her body and quickly realised what she was trying to do. He began his counter measure only too late, Kagura had already had a head start and was already at the edge of the sphere. Just as she left she thrust her blade forward. This was the deciding moment.

As the blade left the dimension it glowed with a white light and in but a moment the broken blade extended out back into its former glory. Kagura smiled as matter inside her returned to normal outside of the dimension, she now had only a split second. She knew that now she was outside the dimension she would be practically stationary to Stefan but she knew it would take time for him to expand the dimension and recapture her. And so she threw the repaired Archenemy towards Stefan and waited for him to finish himself. Due to the alteration in time between dimensions, the blade's speed tripled upon entering the dimension and whistled towards Stefan before impaling him through the chest. The dimension around him crumbled and Stefan returned to the real world. He walked back a few paces before coughing up thick black blood. He then fell and his body collapsed into nothing.

Kagura pulled her damaged body up and walked towards her beloved blade. She sighed relieved that her blade had survived the ordeal. She was going to need it. Quickly, she surveyed her surroundings. Link and Erza were being swarmed by demons, despite this the two mages of Fairy Tail appeared to be holding their own but no doubt they were getting tired. She looked to the circle of demons surrounding the portal. They were chanting obviously performing some kind of spell. She noticed that a foot above the floor around the edges of the room red lines were forming. She quickly understood what the demons were creating, a magic circle, she however had no idea what it was going to do. She decided she had to stop the chanting however a wave of demons still stood between her and her target. She would have to break through first. There were a lot approaching, at least fifty demons. She grimaced, it would be a challenge alone especially with her body in a less than perfect condition from her previous fight however she had confidence in her skills. She could do this.

Shaking, she braced herself raising her blade and preparing to start the real battle. Just before she launched herself at the enemy. Another fight caught her eye, a man wearing black hit a salmon haired dragon slayer knocking him into a wall with such ferocity it made her stall completely.

Her stomach dropped, she felt ill, she couldn't even breathe; she was fighting a war against the most feared dark mage of this era. She watched as Zeref, floating above the ground, surrounded himself in his toxic aura and relentlessly fired a pulse of black magic that was essentially pure concentrated death, at Natsu's barely conscious form. As it struck the dragon slayer she crumbled, dropping her sword as she fell to the floor in tears. How could they possibly fight that? Even with Erza and Link on their side it was still five against an entire army. There was no possible way they could win this. They were all going to die here.

The horrible thoughts of their imminent ends tumbled in her head sending her deeper and deeper into an ocean of despair until a hand reached in to pull her out. A hand fell on the despairing woman's shoulder. Kagura, in surprise, turned to see a large man wearing predominately navy leather armour. She had no energy to be bothered anymore until she saw who was standing above her. Mace Orlando, Ace of Phoenix Grave.

He looked at her momentarily before giving her the stupidest cheesy grin he had. She simply sat there shocked looking at his smile. He then released her and began walking towards the wave of demons ahead of them. Blue fire surrounded his body. "Zeref himself huh? Looks pretty hairy," he then turned and grinned again, "I figured you would need some help." He simply said, Kagura sat speechless. She had been overwhelmed by the soul destroying magic power being produced by Zeref and the horrifying demons of Tartaros, but the man ahead of her was bringing a new feeling to the room changing the atmosphere completely. There was an explosion of fire to her left as Natsu stood enraged at the previous attack. Cloaked in fire he launched himself at Zeref who despite being the most powerful mage in Fiore was forced to defend against the dragon slayer. All of a sudden Link and Erza tore through an entire wave of demons in a single stroke. Even Iris was doing her best fighting Vaati, she couldn't back down, not while her friends were risking themselves. Her confidence began to return as the man in front of him beamed at her. She took up her sword swearing to never drop it in the face of the enemy again, to never give in so easily again, to always have the strength and confidence to help her friends despite the dire circumstances. Her eyes changed, mirroring Link's famous feral gaze she stepped forwards and stood next to mace. Both of them looked ahead with confidence and pride before they charged into the fight.

(...)

"Clawshot!" Iris shouted summoning the weapon into her hand. She jumped, using her light frame to leap higher and faster than any normal human being could. She landed on the head of one of the larger lesser demons before launching the clawshot at the ceiling. If she'd had time she would have killed the lesser demon while she was at it but unfortunately she was slightly preoccupied. Her enemy currently was the rather enigmatic demonic imp that she was attempting to avoid by any means in order to buy Link and his friends some time. She made it to the outside of the roof landing lightly enough on the crumbling dome so as not to damage it even further.

Vaati however was quick to catch up, his wind magic made him almost equally as fast and dexterous as she was with the added advantage of flight. As he reached her he swung round to punch her as she ran. His attack hit but his sadistic glee was only momentary as the substitution he punched faded into smoke. Before he could defend Iris struck the Imp three times in quick succession from behind launching him away from her.

He twisted in mid-air and prepared his counter attack, "Sky God's Bellow," a beam of black wind flew towards Iris who once again reequipped her clawshot and dropped back down to the arena below. Vaati's attack sailed harmlessly over her as she used her clawshot to swing over to where she knew he would appear. As he too descended into the hall he received a kick from Iris right to the gut once again throwing him back. Before he could make his move she pulled out three throwing needles and cast them towards Vaati. Vaati however saw them coming and merely swiped upwards to deflect them with his wind.

With a quick somersault Iris fell to the floor of the hall taking a moment to survey her surroundings. She was on the other side of the hall to the rest of her team and there were almost no lesser demons over here. Vaati landed clutching his side his eyes were sharp and furious.

With malice he simply said, "You have the training of a powerful sheikah but you can't fool me, fake." Iris simply stood ahead of him ignoring his comments. She had completed her goal, he had lost his composure and was now angry which meant he would make mistakes. He launched himself at her. She prepared a handful of pepper dust. The moment he was close enough she cast the dust aiming for his eyes before dodging the attack she predicted it was then she realised her mistake. Instead of a straight attack he jumped into the air causing the pepper to miss and Iris to be totally vulnerable. "Sky God's Globe," he said creating a large sphere of black air above him. The attack hit her before she had time to avoid. The wind tore at her like knives and cast her out in a random direction. Pain hit her side as Vaati kicked her causing her to fall and roll across the floor.

"Humph, you should have known your petty tricks wouldn't work for long, I expected more." Vaati said walking up to Iris as she pulled herself up on all fours. He went in to kick her while she was down but Iris was too fast. Before his foot could hit she stuck a smoke bomb thrust in the way. Vaati ended up kicking the bomb instead of her and caused an explosion of smoke to surround him and Iris.

Iris got to work instantly, ignoring her recent injuries. Unfortunately as a price for her unnatural speed and dexterity her body was notably fragile meaning she had to strike fast and finish opponent early. This did however help her in situations like this. Using the veil of her smoke bomb she zipped around the imp laying down her trap.

As predicted the demon released a strong burst of wind to dispel the smoke however it was already too late. As the smoke cleared Vaati couldn't find a trace of his target. Cautiously he took in his surroundings using his magic to pick up on the miniscule disturbances in the air the Sheikah would no doubt create. A single step back was all it took, the trap was unleashed.

Explosions of light surrounded him blinding the imp. Iris then skirted a wide circle around the imp and threw many needles perfectly aimed at critical positions. Unfortunately for Iris, just blinding the demon was not enough as he managed to competently make a working shield of wind to deflect the needles. As the shield fell and Vaati's eyes regained their sight Iris leapt at the imp.

Iris reinforced her arm with magic increasing her strength for the hit. Her target was the nape of the neck, a known pressure point that when hit with enough force in the right way would instantly paralyse any creature. Vaati spun round in an attempt to defend but the sheikah was simply too fast striking the pressure point with skilled accuracy. Vaati fell to his knees from the impact and quickly collapsed to the floor.

With a sigh of relief Iris summoned a dark sheikah knife ready to finish the demon. She unfortunately did not see the cursed grin the demon held as she approached. As she crouched over his body the demons red eyes glowed. It was far too late by the time Iris felt the magic. Immediately an enormous tornado erupted from the tiny human throwing Iris into the air and forcing her to spiral out of control. As Vaati stood the tornado stopped and Iris was allowed a moments respite before Vaati said, "I can smell what you are, Sky God's Cyclone." He said placing both hands to the floor. Dark wind whipped around him before flying at Iris capturing her in the hurricane of airwhich cast her into the sky. "Sky God's Slice," Vaati laughed with sadistic glee. Sharp waves of black air flew at Iris rattling her and holding her in place. She screamed in pain as the god slayer magic ripped at the very fabric of her being. "Sky God's Bellow!" Vaati's penultimate attack launched her high into the sky, her clothes were being torn to shreds in the attack. It felt like she was being violated by waves and waves of tiny razors. As the attack ended she enjoyed a single moment of bliss as she fell through the clean air above the hall. The moment quickly ended as Vaati appeared above her and punched her so that she was launched back down to earth with such velocity a crater was made on her landing.

Barely alive she lay in the crater watching as Vaati floated lightly down towards her. Blood from her lungs forced itself out staining what was left of the bandages covering her face red. A tear fell from her eye as she realised her defeat. Her mind became serene as she remembered everything that had happened to bring her to this moment. Link. Leaving her home, Hyrule, her brief training, Impa, her missions in the future, the sacred grove, Mermaid heel and a message from a goddess.

"When you are close to death and two needs to become three release yourself."

She turned to see him one last time before her final demise. He was fighting, Erza at his side, Power and Courage working in unison. They had two out of the three, but they needed more to be able to finish this. It was time.

Iris raised her left hand to the sky, it began to glow. Iris reached with her other hand and with a swift movement tore the bandages off her hand finally removing the seal. Red eyes melted as they gazed upon the golden gift that sat on the back of her hand. Overwhelming light surrounded the girl causing every demon in the hall to falter in fear. Vaati attempted to penetrate the light but was cast back and forced to his knees.

The girl's body was raised upright and within the light, the transformation occurred. Bandages fell from the girl's face revealing the simple beauty that had been hidden for so long. The tight plait unwound and golden hair cascaded down her back. The ancient sheikah robes collapsed and vanished being replaced by a pure white dress. Sharp ears peered out from under the girl's hair. The light faded and the girl lightly descended to earth. By now everyone's attention was on the girl dressed in white. The serenity and purity of her ended any occurring fight. Link took a single step forward in disbelief as she opened her eyes. Sky blue, like the ones he used to know.

Zelda offered the hero a sorrowful smile.


	47. He Arrives

**Chapter 47 - He arrives**

**Well this was the week this was meant to come out sorry for those who have already read it i have replaced chapter 46 with the real one so if you havent read it go back. **

**Also i have now moved into halls at uni and with freshers week I have had no time to write anything so there may not be any chapters for a while i imagine at some point i will burn myself out and spend a day in bed where i can just write, so you will have to wait until then.**

**Anyway Pleeeeaaaase review it and dont forget to fave and follow if you enjoyed it.**

**Enjoy the chapter ;)**

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Link took in a sight he thought he would never see again. Zelda, the girl he grew up with, the girl he once fought for, the girl he once loved, his closest friend who he had thought was entire eras away was standing right in front of him. In any other situation he would have charged towards her and embraced her then and there but unfortunately there were bigger issues.

Vaati was the first to recover from the revelation, in rage he stood and launched a tornado of dark energy at the seemingly defenseless Zelda. Instantly Link was ready to teleport himself between Zelda and the attack until Zelda held out her hand.

"Nayru's Love," she said in barely a whisper. Zelda's hand glowed with an intense golden light and from it an enormous blue crystal formed around her deeming Vaat's attack useless as it sailed harmlessly around her. Link could feel his triforce reacting to her, there were no doubts that the bearer of the Triforce of Wisdom had been revealed. As the shield shattered Zelda gave Link a side-wards glance smiling happily at him with a giggle and a wink. Link almost laughed at himself for underestimating his childhood friend. He remebered the no nonsense attitude she had towards Groose back before the wing ceremony. Zelda was more than capable of handling herself there was no way she needed Link's protection anymore.

A claw narrowly missing Links face was more than enough to bring him back into reality and with renewed hope in his heart he leapt back into battle. With both Zelda and Erza at his side the demons didn't stand a chance.

Zelda couldn't help but smile as she watched Link get back to work. She etched the boy's reaction to her return into the back of her mind along with all of her other memories. An explosion next to her brought her out of her memories. She faced the demon in front of her with a comfortable smile. He returned the smile with a horrific scowl. She didn't doubt her transformation was not the best thing that had happened to him today. She giggled, just a few years ago she would have been terrified seeing a face like that from one with such power but she was no longer who she once was. She was Zelda, the vessel of Hylia and wielder of the Triforce of Wisdom, no longer would she run in the face of a stupid demon like this one.

"So you show your true self at last. That doesn't mean anything has changed though. My magic was still created for destroying beings like you."

Zelda placed a single finger to her chin, "Oh, so that was god slaying magic, I see. I think you're overestimating yourself… or maybe you're underestimating me. I mean I'm not a goddess for no reason right?" She teasingly mused, watching calmly as Vaati's rage grew.

In truth what she said was not completely accurate, yes she was the reincarnation of the goddess Hylia but after the revival of Demise she had all but lost her divinity becoming the first pure Hylian. However that did not mean the blessing of Hylia was not still upon her. This blessing would allow her and all her incarnations to come to have the ability to tap into realms of magic that o other would ever be able to this coupled with the Triforce of Wisdom was more than she needed to defeat the Imp in front of her.

In rage Vaati began his attack. "Sky God's Globe!"

The great sphere of dark air was launched towards Zelda tearing up the ground in its wake. Zelda smiled and summoned a small, simple but decorated baton that fell lightly into her hand. The Wind Waker. Raising it above her head she gave it a quick flick and let it work it's magic. The Wind Waker obeyed its master and the wind obeyed the Wind Waker. The globe of dark air collapsed as it approached Zelda. The remnants of the wind flowed past her causing her dress and hair to float out behind her majestically. With a calm smile Zelda stood directing the wind around her like a conductor in front of an orchestra before firing wind at her foe in sharp slice like waves.

Vaati cursed but managed to avoid the slices by flying around them with aerial prowess. He then flew at Zelda with a vengeance his entire body coating itself in black wind. Zelda simply flicked her wrist resulting in a tornado of white wind picking Vaati up and throwing him into the ceiling. Vaati just managed to save himself on time and began to use his magic in a more creative way. Using his wind he cast the rubble that was falling from the ceiling at Zelda. The rocks plummeted towards her forcing her to defend herself using the Wind Waker to knock the projectiles away from her. Unfortunately this served as a suitable distraction for Vaati to get close enough to attack. The moment the rubble was cleared away by Zelda Vaati fired a rain of black curses down at Zelda. Zelda noticing this attempted to use the wind to deflect them but it was far too late.

The curses hit her in numerous places causing her an insane amount of pain. Zelda grimaced but she did not scream like she would have done once. She was stronger than that now. Closing her eyes she used her triforce to tap into what she could only describe as a river of magic that flowed through her. She knew for a fact that this phenomenon was not found in common Hylians even less so in humans and hence she assumed it was an effect of the direct link she had with both Hylia and the Goddesses of Creation. She let the magic power wash over her allowing it to counteract the effects of the curses that had struck her. Placing The Wind Waker into her left hand she prepared her next spell.

Vaati flew towards her angrily, however without remorse Zelda pointed the baton at her enemy a vortex of wind flew towards him and just before it collided with the imp Zelda released her power. "Din's Fire!" she shouted. Instantly the vortex of wind lit up set ablaze with holy, crimson fire.

It took all that Vaati could muster to defend himself. He fell to the floor smoking, Zelda stood no longer smiling. Vaati cursed, he could feel the judgement of the goddess he was facing. She was ready to finish him. With that thought in mind Vaati began to laugh. It was a dry and emotionless laugh, "I suppose I better pull out my trump, let it be known that Vaati didn't go down without a fight." With that he drew a short dagger, the symbol of the sheikah lay on its blade. He held out his other arm and created a deep cut in it, releasing the black ooze within.

The magic instantly took effect. Zelda dispelled the Wind Waker knowing that it would be useless for what was to come. She closed her eyes and raised her hands to her chest adopting a prayerful position. A dark aura covered Vaati and his form altered significantly. His small impish body grew three times its original size becoming large and rounded. His legs all but disappeared as his arms grew to incredible lengths. Zeref smiled from the other side of the room as he felt Vaati finally enter his etherious form. Although Vaati was not an etherious demon Zeref had recently given him the enhancement as a gift to one of the original demons. Still, his battle would be ending soon.

Zelda stood calmly as the black mist faded from Vaati's new form. From the centre of the monstrosity's body, a large red and gold eye opened peering down at the girl as she prayed to her goddesses. The demon took a single earth-shaking step forward carrying himself on his large black arms. The great eye began to charge power, builing up a scary red light. Vaati released the devestaging attack as a giant beam of energy. The beam of red light collided with a monumentous form of Nayru's love, far bigger than anything Link or Erza could create. The resounding shockwave caused everything in the hall to stumble as the beam tried to hammer its way though the crystal shield. The attack however was totally futile and quickly died away. Vaati began to float and once again tapped into his god slaying magic charging up one of the more powerful god slaying spells. Sky God's Tempest. Black swirls of wind began to flow around Vaati's arms as he charged the attack up. Zelda now held a single hand out in front of her facing the floor. Beneath it golden particles began to appear slowly drifting towards the floor. Very quickly a solid shape began to form under her hand. Vaati held his hands forward his dark winds growing and whipping around his entire body now.

The object in front of her took form now shining with a beautiful light that filled the room. She placed her hand on a bow of light that shone with extreme beauty. The bow was enormous, at least twice her hieght but that didn't stop the goddess come princess from raising it vertically in order to use it. In her other hand she created an arrow made of pure light and nocked it into the bow. It was only now that Zelda opened her eyes and witnessed Vaati release an almighty wave of the darkest god slaying magic at her. Zelda drew the bow back charging all of her energy into the arrow until it shone like a sun. With a calm breath she released the string and fired the arrow.

Link and Erza broke free of the demons surrounding them and ran with all their might towards Zelda as she fired the arrow. The pair had to shield their eyes from the impact of the arrow with the demon. Both of them stopped in awe of the attack watching as the final remnants of Vaati faded from existence forever. After seeing what Vaati had become earlier the pair had decided they should lend a hand in destroying the demon however it seemed that Zelda already had it covered. As Zelda relaxed she turned back to them with a cheeky glance as if to say 'Beat that Link'.

Link chuckled lightly. Before Zelda pointed her bow towards them. Using an arrow with significantly less power she fired the arrow straight past them striking a rather large demon that was approaching.

"Wow, I mean I know I'm pretty but to completely distract the Hero of the Sky in the middle of a battle." Zelda teased. Erza visibly tensed at Link's side.

Link sighed before grinning, "Nothing ever changes does it."

"Oh, I don't know," Zelda said with a kind smile towards Erza.

Erza gave a resigned smile, "Well. Now that the happy reunion is out of the way." She swung round to decapitate a demon behind her, "Do you think we can get back to work?"

Zelda smiled as she knocked another arrow, happy that she could finally fully support her best friend.

(...)

Death. Natsu had spent time playing with a lot of things but this took the biscuit. Right now he was playing with nothing but pure death. Every attack the dark mage he was facing had the potential to instantly end his life and that thought terrified him. Just one hit and he loses everything, no more playing out with Happy, no more adventures with his team, no more kissing Lucy whenever he had the chance. No more Fairy Tail to return ever again.

These thoughts drove the dragon slayer, these thoughts kept him alive. There was no doubts that Zeref was miles ahead of him in terms of power but that had never stopped the dragon slayer before. Once more he cloaked himself in his fire and launched himself at the dark mage. In the naïve hope of getting a single hit in. Once again it only took the tiniest of movements from Zeref to block him and throw him back down to earth. Natsu cursed as he looked at the unimpressed expression plastered on the bastard's face. What was worse was that Zeref wasn't even trying. He just effortlessly avoided or blocked each strike and half-heartedly returned his own every now and then to give the illusion they were in fact fighting. Still even Zeref's more mundane attacks were nothing to laugh at. A single attack could easily lead to Natsu's death. Still Natsu pressed on.

"Fire Dragon's Sword Horn!" Natsu yelled as he set himself aflame and blasted himself over to Zeref. Zeref was expecting this kind of attack Natsu was very upfront in his fighting making him only too predictable. This time though the dragon slayer had something up his sleeve. Just as Natsu was about to sail past Zeref who was simply going to avoid his reckless attack, Natsu spread his arms. "Fire Dragon's Wing attack." mixed with the sword horn the fire around him spread monumentally taking the shape and span of a pair of enormous dragon wings. Zeref smiled, a combo attack while still a primitive move was much better than Natsu's previously mundane attacks. His smile fell realising that Natsu was still far of being able to beat him. As the fire got close to him Zeref cut through it with his own black magic defending himself easily before spinning and firing a weak pulse at Natsu.

Surprise once again lit up the dark mages face as Natsu managed to counter attack with his own Fire Dragon's Roar. The result was a large smoky explosion that surrounded both Natsu and Zeref. Zeref cleared the smoke with a single swipe of his hand. To find that the fire dragon slayer was nowhere to be seen. A sneak attack Zeref quickly deduced, above. Zeref looked to the sky but realised the truth far too late as he looked down to face a fist of fire. Thanks to his superhuman instincts and speed Zeref managed to receive only a light burn on the cheek from the attack. However there was now still the problem that an angry dragon slayer was now in front of him and he was covered in openings.

A flaming heel to the stomach made Zeref realise now was not the time for complacency. Zeref landed on the floor lightly thankful that his magically enchanted robes had taken the brunt of the damage. Natsu in contrast landed with a smash on the ground in front of him. Zeref noted the almost insane grin on the salamander's face. It was not overconfidence just mild glee. In fairness considering the reputation Zeref held he was not surprised that the dragon slayer was happy that he had delivered a blow. Yes the time for holding back was over.

He looked to the sky, he was coming he could feel it already.

Placing one foot behind him and his hands in a seal in front of his chest he prepared his next attack. Natsu jumped forward to attack oblivious to the force he was about to face. Zeref's eyes focused as magic power built up in his entire body, his deep black eyes turning a dark and morbid red.

The attack was unleashed in the form of an enormous black wave that killed everything it touched. The wave had no force behind it, it didn't push anything more than a light breeze would and on top of that the spell was creepily silent stealing life away like a masterful thief. Vines and moss growing up the walls quickly shrivelled up and died as if they were shrinking away from the magic. Even the lesser demons that Zeref had created succumbed to the evil magic. Natsu was not immune to its effects. He instantly collapsed the second the curse made contact with him falling to the floor with almost his entire life essence sapped from him. Almost. Natsu could feel it, the scarf around his neck he had received from his father had once again saved him. For the second time it saved his life turning as black as night in the process.

Zeref let out a heavy sigh, "Again Fairy Tail circumvents my curse." He looked down as Natsu brought himself up to his feet grasping his scarf in shock. "That scarf has saved you again, Natsu. Is that a testament to your ability or is it simply dumb luck." Natsu remained silent as he struggled to build up his energy again. "It frustrates me," Zeref said as he admired his hand. "Do you have any idea how a curse like this feels, the curse of contradiction. It steals life from those I love so I am forced to plot and hate only for it to fail me when it matters… Still he is coming soon and by then none of it will matter." Zeref sighed, "You were too late to stop me Natsu, although once I hoped you would be able to I realise now that my experiments with you were foolish and futile." Zeref surrendered himself to his inevitable victory and thrust his palm out ready to finish his last hope.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Natsu grunted angrily. "Sure I'm a bit late but I'm not finished yet." Natsu looked up with a wily grin. "Not even close."

With that Natsu placed a hand on his heart and tapped into his second magical container. "Looks like the gift I got from Jellal and the creepy old man woman is going to come in useful. Second origin release."

Zeref lowered his hand in mild interest as red lines ran up Natsu's shivering body. Natsu bit back the pain he was feeling, releasing his second origin was a lot more painful for him than others for some reason, he had been very close to releasing it earlier but was force to bite it back as he was currently stuffed with Sting and Rogue's disgusting magic. Now it was different though. The red marks faded and electricity began to crackle over his skin building in intensity. All of a sudden the entirety of his second magic container was released and immediately fire and lightning fused together surrounding him in the dual elements. Natsu yelled as his strength built. Zeref looked on in interest realising what the dragon slayer had accomplished. This was something not even Zeref had done to himself for it required a magic he'd never had hold of. Suddenly he remembered a black haired woman, one he had met on Tenrou Island. She must have done it.

Natsu became silent as the pain inside him subsided, his body was now coated in an orange yellow flame that was occasionally discharging electricity. Natsu had returned to his Lightning Flame Dragon state.

Zeref almost smiled at the development and placed himself in a battle stance knowing that this version of Natsu may be more of a challenge to take down. Natsu was the first to move raising his fist and coating it in his magic. "Lighting Flame Dragon's Fist!" He yelled running at Zeref for to deliver a cruel uppercut. Zeref stepped back to barely avoid the attack, taking note of the amount of magic power that was now in Natsu's strikes, before ducking below a second punch delivering one of his own. The only magic he used in his punch was simply a mild reinforcement magic. This in itself as enough to throw Natsu back a fair way.

Natsu lit both his fist and arm alight and jumped into the air above Zeref. "Lightning Flame Dragon's Firing Hammer!" he descended on Zeref striking the floor where he stood only a moment ago. The impact however was enough to shake the entire foundations of the hall and shatter the ground around them. Natsu spun round to attack Zeref with a flaming kick which Zeref quickly defended before being forced to block a third strike from above. Zeref couldn't help but feel slightly relieved that at least now Natsu was using his superior melee combat skills to good use. Even if it was subconscious the Dragon slayer was aiming to create then exploit any opening that appeared. Unfortunately for him, he was against a wizard who had gained immortality and immortality tends to give you a lot of time to practice the martial arts. Zeref began to move onto the offensive, blocked blows from Natsu were quickly turned to blocking blows. Natsu quickly realised he was going to be overwhelmed as Zeref's pace picked up and Natsu was forced to step back.

Skipping the aria stage Natsu simply breathed in and released a lightning flame dragon's roar from point blank range. Zeref was forced to protect himself as he was cast back. The tips of his robes setting on fire. Zeref quickly extinguished the flames with a small amount of magic before Natsu attacked again using a more relentless and suicidal tactic.

The Dragon slayer's attacks had simply become a spinning whirlwind of electrified fire, the attacks were rapid and powerful any other mage would be overwhelmed against such an onslaught. However Zeref knew what he was doing. Casually defending himself he waited for Natsu's suicidal style to give him the opportunity to strike. Zeref quickly found his opportunity and exploited it using more magic power than he had used in the entire battle so far. Zeref unleashed a superhuman jab to the Dragon Slayer's side. Instantly his fire died out as unimaginable pain flowed like a wave throughout his body.

"Second origin, an interesting technique but it isn't enough," Zeref decided. Zeref then moved to karate chop the nape of Natsu's neck knocking him into the ground violently. "Accept it Natsu you have lost." A forceful kick sent Natsu into a nearby mural of a great dragon, the mural crumbled burying the dragon slayer in the rubble. "Without a doubt you are the most pathetic of my creations, I never should have believed in such a desperate attempt of salvation." The single hand that jutted out of the pile of rocks burying Natsu finally fell limp.

Zeref felt magic below him, the red magic circle that filled the edge of the hall below him was halfway complete. Zeref walked over to where the demons of Tartaros were chanting. He released more lesser demons to keep the others mages occupied, he no longer cared for meagre distractions. He turned as he entered the circle and stood next to Abaddon who was diligently working.

"My lord, the preparations are near completion, however it appears that he will arrive before we have time to finish."

"I see." Zeref stated looking at the magic controls hovering over the altar. "Abaddon get the portal to Crocus open, if it comes down to it I will hold him off until the circle is ready."

"Yes, my lord." Abaddon said as Zeref turned round to check on the portal. "Urm, my lord, it appears you are not yet done with the dragon slayer." Zeref turned. Standing at the edge of the hall was Natsu. His body was shaking, bruises and cuts covered his body in so many places it was a wonder how the mage was still standing. Blood trickled down from a gash in the dragon slayers forehead but it didn't stop him.

Zeref was nothing but annoyed now, the dragon slayer should have died in the rubble, yet somehow he was still standing. "Enough, Natsu I have entertained you long enough, if you refuse to give in I will kill you."

Sheer rage was the only thing that covered his face. Before he could come back with some stupid taunt or challenge he was interrupted. It was not only him that was interrupted, the entire hall stopped at the interruption. The demons chanting, the lesser demons, Kagura and Mace, Link, Erza and Zelda. Even Zeref who simply gazed at the sky.

The roar was momentous, shaking the entire island. Fear instantly built in the heart of every mage and every demon there. Natsu and Erza particularly knew exactly what was approaching. The wind picked up in the hall as a mere consequence of the approaching cataclysm. Erza fell to her knees beside Link. "It can't be." She said in barely a whisper.

"Erza, what's wrong? What was that?"

Erza ignored his question and immediately turned to Zeref.

"You brought that thing with you! What are you going to do? You can't possibly fight that thing!" Erza yelled in desperation.

Zelda approached Link with fear on her face, "Link what's going on?"

"He is coming." Zeref said out loud. His voice was no longer calm nor bored. His voice was resolved and confident, despite this there was still a hint of fear in it. "The Dragon King approaches." Zeref turned as the sky went dark. "And so the festival will begin."

Natsu looked up in horror. There in the sky, blocking out the sun;

The Dragon King, Acnologia, had finally arrived.


	48. Desperation

**Chapter 48**

**Alright, so Zeref is here, Acnologia is here, Zelda is here, Link and Erza are here. What a climax this is turning out to be. Any guesses as to what is going to happen? **

**Anyway, fave follow, review but most of all enjoy!**

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The sky behind the morbid shadow turned as black as night. The spiralling blue markings that covered the dragon seemed to glow iridescently against the black scales of the demonic dragon above them. Link stepped back in fear, his eyes swimming with nightmares of the sealed monstrosities he had battled before, not one of them held a candle to the monster above him. The sheer evil presence the dragon was exuding was enough to put terror into the heart of even the one who bore the Triforce of Courage. Erza had told tales of the dragon above them, Link remembered how she shaked telling the story of Tenrou island. He realised now that it was for very good reason.

The beast above them roared with an ear piercing shriek that tore the remainder of the roof off the hall in an instant. The lesser demons below were all tossed to the wind as insignificant as fallen leaves. The remaining members of the Grand Magic games clung on for dear life to avoid being swept up. Even Zeref had to anchor himself to avoid being blown away then. The demons of Tartaros did not even flinch however and continued chanting as if they were in another world. As the hurricane caused by the roar subsided Zeref stood straight, he looked to Abaddon who seemed just as terrified as everyone else. "Keep going, we must complete the magic circle or our plans fall to ruin." Zeref ordered, "I will hold him off as long as I can." Zeref said taking a step forward. Abaddon simply nodded obediently despite the look of worry on her face that was directed at Zeref.

Zeref prepared himself, crouching down and flooding himself with magic. It was only a second later, just as he was about to launch himself at the dragon, that a burning wind flew past his face. Everyone in the hall stood shocked as Natsu beat the dark mage to the punch flying at the dragon with all of his might. He streaked across the sky leaving a blazing trail behind him as he drew back his fist to attack the great dragon from head on.

"Natsu don't!" Erza called out but it was far too late. The Dragon opened its maw and built up a terrifying attack. Blue light shone down on the hall as Acnologia loosed his breath.

Natsu however didn't falter he continued on against his oncoming doom with the foolish courage he was famed for.

Zeref turned away knowing that Natsu's end was all but decided.

"Lightning Flame Dragon's Iron Fist!" Natsu roared putting all the built up resentment he had for the dragon behind his attack. Memories of the despair Fairy Tail had upon their first encounter with the dragon. He remembered the yells of Gildarts, the surrender of Laxus, the near sacrifice of their master and he remembered Lucy's tears. Rage directed at the monster above him built up in his soul, building his attack to whole new levels. This however was simply not enough, the silhouette of Natsu against the bright blue attack vanished as the dragon slayer was consumed by the monster. Erza screamed in horror as Natsu's broken body was seen falling back to earth.

The world fell silent to the mages as they watched Natsu fall. The great flame that held the heart of Fairy Tail was gone, snuffed out as if it was merely a candle. Erza fell to her knees in despair, tears fell from her face instantly pooling on the ground below her. How could he be gone? Nothing could beat Natsu, he was unbeatable but now he was gone. She smashed the ground in anger wishing for another way and chastising herself for not being able to stop him. Emotional pain raped her body sucking all the willpower from her. Now it was pointless.

She felt it before she saw it, a wave of magic, warm and strong. Power, hope, courage all of it was contained in the wave. It came again, just as powerful as before, then again, and again. "A heartbeat." Erza whispered looking to the sky in desperation, praying to the gods for it to be true. Her suspicions were confirmed as she looked to the sky and saw it as bright as day. The glowing body of Natsu was beating.

Fire flowed out of the body of Natsu lighting up the hall with a far warmer light than anything Acnologia could conjure. it grew powerfully turning from a bonfire to an inferno. Zeref watched in shock as once again Natsu defied the laws of the world. No not Natsu… something far greater.

The fire that flowed from Natsu was beginning to take shape, growing to a size almost as large as Acnologia himself, it began to mould into the shape of a dragon. The sheer heat was overwhelming to everyone and it only seemed to be getting hotter. Link held Erza's hand offering her the protection of his fire shield earrings.

A new earth shattering roar was heard, easily rivalling that of Acnologia's and Zeref realised what was going on. The fire seemed to solidify slowly. Flesh, scales, horns, talons, wings. A crimson dragon was born from the descending body of Natsu. Zeref shook his head correcting himself, not born revived.

Natsu had to smile as he gently landed on the ground barely conscious. He did not notice Link, Erza and a blonde stranger run to his side for he was too distracted by the mighty being that was above him. The ancient scarred dragon turned to his son with a wide grin and stuck one scaly thumb up.

"Igneel," Natsu said weakly, "Heh, I should've known, You were beside me all along weren't you. Tch, bastard." Natsu coughed harshly barely grasping onto his life, "Heh screw that. Hey Igneel, Kick his fucking ass,"

With that Igneel nodded and released another epic roar as he launched himself at the Dragon King. Fire built from within the closed maw of Igneel causing his aged rugged scales to glow with the fire light. Igneel met Acnologia with a roar of fire that far exceeded anything Natsu could produce. Every being in the hall instantly began to sweat from the intensity and power of the fire as it forced Acnologia back.

Natsu grinned and pulled himself up, "Link, I'm going too, get me onto Igneel's back." Natsu said with a terrifying grin.

"Absolutely not," Erza ordered, "Natsu you do not have the energy to continue or the power to fight that thing. Please… just stop."

"Erza…" Natsu gasped, "You know…"

"JUST STOP BEFORE YOU GET YOURSELF KILLED!" Erza roared tears flowing down her face. "Weren't you the one that told me to live for my friends not die for them?"

Natsu placed a hand on Erza's shoulder, "Erza, I'm not going to die, none of us are, so long as we fight. All of us together, you, me, Link, Kagura, this blonde chick and fake Gildarts over there, we have to fight if we are going to win. So let's get that dragon bastard back for the seven years of our life he stole away. Kay?" Natsu said with a grin.

Erza looked at him in awe. She sighed but smiled gently, "Al-"

Link interrupted with a commanding tone, "I am sorry Natsu, but that dragon is out of your league, you are staying right where you are," Link commanded.

Natsu heard this and looked at Link with a very confused expression. This quickly turned to anger and he was about to protest but then he saw the hero's face. Every muscle came together to form a harsh grimace as the hero gazed up at the dragon above him. His eyes had returned to the icy shards they had been earlier.

"And you are in no fit condition to fight, Fi has already run an analysis and you have broken at least 5 ribs, sprained both your left ankle and wrist as well as sustaining grade A burns all over your body. The only reason you cannot feel it is because you are pumped full of adrenaline, if you fight anymore you will never recover."

Natsu looked at him in disbelief, was this truly the Link he had fought beside all this time?

Link turned to Erza with a grim face gripping the master sword tightly, "I'm going to fight that dragon," He gave a sidewards glance to Zelda his harsh eyes trying to determine her reaction to the monster. "I need you to try and stop those bloody demons from chanting from the looks of things it won't be long before the circle is complete, we cannot let that happen." He stepped away from Natsu and prepared for his flight. Before he left however he looked at Erza almost apologetically. Erza returned the look with one of deep concern.

Grabbing Link by his green tunic she pulled him in for an unexpected kiss. Link was far too surprised to return it but neither did he retreat from it. The kiss ended up oddly cold and stagnant with none of the passion the couple held earlier. The kiss broke off "Don't you even think of dying on us." Erza said looking straight into his eyes, Link looked away unable to lie to his girlfriend.

"I will try my hardest." He eventually said turning away from Erza.

Erza realised the implications of this and grabbed him by the shoulder before punching him in the gut. Link looked at his girlfriend in surprise, "That's not good enough," She practically yelled. "Please, tell me you will return." She pleaded desperately.

Link's heart suddenly felt as it it was under two tonnes of rock as he looked at the desperate face of his girlfriend. His eyes melted and he pulled her in to embrace her. His mind spun for a way out of the situation alive, a way they could stay together, forever. Not one scenario had a happy ending... He couldn't lie to her. Erza interrupted him before he could speak.

"Link, let me be your courage."

Link separated from her and looked into her eyes. Fuck he loved those eyes. His heart began to beat rapidly, soaring to incredible heights, instantly overcoming the weight that was on it moments ago. Link was reminded just why he loved this woman so much. A tear fell from his eye, but not one of despair, one of joy, one of courage and light. Link looked at her and nodded with the brightest smile she had ever seen him wear.

"Erza, Thank you, I will be back before you know it," Link said, "You stay safe too."

Erza nodded back as Link stepped back, his hand slipped out from under hers and he cast the enchantment for Farore's Wind.

(…)

Crocus was abuzz with activity. Even before the reveal of Zeref, Fairy Tail had been working hard evacuating the city and preparing of the worst. Carla, Wendy and Lucy stood in Domus Flau watching the screens with dread. It was exactly as Carla had predicted. The Festival of the Dragon King had finally begun and unless those remaining in the Grand magic Games could stop it, it was only going to get worse. Lucy had her hands in a prayerful position, the signal from the lacrocameras was now incredibly poor due to the amount of magic flying around on the other side but they could see enough to have a general understanding of the situation.

Instantly after Carla revealed to Makarov what was going to happen, the entire guild got to work. They had barely had two days to prepare for what was to come and so far it was not looking bright. Fortunately Makarov pulled his weight as a member of the ten wizard saints to gather a large fraction of the Runic Knights to Crocus. Many were now stationed in the Arena all of them being led by Doranbolt. The man now stood nearby keeping a close eye on the screen with Lucy, Carla and Wendy. To confuse Wendy even more it turns out that Doranbolt was in fact the member of Fairy Tail called Mest all along making the aftermath of the Tenrou event even more confusing. Makarov had explained that Mest was acting in Makarov's stead as a mole in the magic council going as far as to wipe his own memory of the fact that he was a member of Fairy Tail. Makarov soon fixed this and together they managed to gather the Runic Knights to help defend the city. Currently the knights had been helping with the evacuation of the city and preparing magical defences in the arena. Carla was still not convinced it was enough but unfortunately it was all they had.

The only good news so far was that there had been no human casualties from the island and everyone that had been teleported back to Crocus had received immediate medical attention. Most were still in the process of recovering, Laxus and Orga included but many were already back on their feet showing the sheer resilience mages had. Gray, Sting and Rogue for example were already helping the rest of Fairy Tail with evacuations.

Most of the other guilds were also helping with the effort, Sabretooth, Mermaid heel and Lamia Scale being the most help all of them had offered their entire guilds to help with efforts Ichiya and the Trimen who were all once again in top condition spent a huge amount of time planning for the oncoming storm bringing their giant airship along for the extra fire power.

It was Insignia however had taken the heaviest blow recently, the return of Roran and Cryse who were both in critical condition and the disappearance of Azuma and Linebeck had hit poor Hero and the rest of the guild hard. The boy hadn't left his adopted parents sides since they had been put in a medical van to be taken out of the city. Chelia and Aaron had said a quick hi to Wendy updating her and inviting her on their mission to find the guild master of Lamia Scale. Makarov had been helpful enough to tell them where she was, predicting what their goal was. No doubt uniting the nine would be insanely helpful in this case however it was very unlikely to happen. Out of the nine only Ohba could easily be found the rest could be entire continents away for all Makarov knew. Of course Mace was already in the middle of the fray which was helpful.

The situation was certainly desperate they just had to hope they were ready for it. Fairy Tail prayed for Natsu and everyone else's safety.

(…)

With a wisp of wind Link was carried high above where the two dragons were battling, and began his sky dive.

Link promised to return one final time before he cleared his head and returned to battle mode. He gave a wily grin and brought his fingers to his lips. An ear-piercing whistle tore through the sky and it was only seconds larger a screech could be heard in return. Airya, zipped past him like a red streak of light before catching him with ease. The bird wheeled round with grace above the two dragons riding the winds they were producing with her famed aerial prowess.

"Glad to see you made it Airya," Link yelled over the hurricane. His bird was never far away from him for long and he was glad to have his companion back by his side once again. "Fi, I need an analysis on the big black dragon, what is it's element? How do I beat it?"

The sword in Link's hand glowed as Fi began her analysis, "Master, I regret to inform you that there is only a 0.0001% chance of victory against that dragon even with the fire dragon as a teammate, I would highly recommend tactical retreat,"

"Fi, you know we can't run from this, please ignore my safety for this fight," Link said.

With some apparent reluctance Fi continued her analysis, "The Dragon has no specific element from the attack it is releasing it appears to be using all elements, a power known in this time as etherium. One attack is equivalent to at minimum over ten billion thunderbolts."

"Any weaknesses?"

"Master, I believe you already have come to the same conclusion as me on this matter,"

"We have seen this before," Link confirmed.

"You are correct. However this being cannot be imprisoned, you will have to defeat it. Analysis shows that the being has no discernible weaknesses, all the tools you own will be highly inefficient with the inclusion of both the Master Sword and the Hylian Shield."

"I see, in that case we simply need to stall it until Erza has destroyed the circle." Link realised.

"Master, Holy spells my well be efficient enough to damage the dragon i recommend use of Din's fire and the skyward strike."

"Right,"

The two interlocked dragons quickly separated, and Igneel moved for a stall drop allowing him to launch himself under Acnologia with insane speed, the dragon narrowly avoided Acnologia's mace-like tail before flying out towards the sea as break neck pace. Acnologia quickly swung round and gave chase. The two dragons soared through the sky at speeds no bird could manage. Both would loose mighty roars towards each other at opportune moments which would always miss and destroy a section of island. Link looked down on the burning island as if it was hell itself. He steeled himself and prepared to enter the fray himself.

No doubt dragon's are the fastest thing in the sky, but there is one bird that could certainly give even dragons a run for their money. Airya soared through the sky at incredible speeds descending into the smoke to use it as cover from the two titanic monster battling each other. Link's trust in Airya allowed him to leave the flying to her whilst he could confidently attack from afar. He built fire in his left arm and watched as his triforce glowed. The bolts he was to loose had to be far stronger than normal if they were to have any impact on the behemoth. He prayed to the goddess Din to give him the strength he needed and she answered in kind. Link began to loose flaming bolts at acnologia, watching as they soared towards the monster. They exploded on contact but could barely dent the hide of the dragon. Igneel turned mid-flight and grappled with the dragon again. Link cursed, he needed away to at least dislodge scale or two.

He redrew the master sword and guided Airya above the two dragons. He looked down on the monster his heart beating with fear. It was time, he held his blade towards the sky like he had done so many times before, power flooded his blade and ran up his arm as the goddess of the sky heeded his call. With a single step forward Link entered freefall and held the blade of evils bane behind his back. With the yell of a hero he descended on the black dragon with only one goal. Defeat it, once and for all. He swung the blade down on the dragon and light filled the sky.

(...)

Erza and Zelda launched themselves at Zeref, Individually they would be vastly overwhelmed but with the Queen of Fairy Tail and the Wielder of Wisdom even Zeref had to put up a real fight. Their tactic was simple Erza would go on the offensive casting summoned swords at the dark mage at every opportunity while Zelda worked with defence using Nayru's Love to block Zeref's death magic. This of course frustrated him greatly but he could feel the magic Zelda was using, it was holy, a gift from the gods. The same gods that cursed him to be the monster he was, the same gods that he hated with every fibre of his being.

Zelda leapt forward thrusting a shining rapier at Zeref, Zeref dodged but soon faced the falchion in Erza's other hand. Zeref held his hand before the blade and just as it pierced his skin it stopped and disintegrated. Erza cursed and retreated slightly avoiding a palm thrust from Zeref. Fighting someone well over 400 years old was indeed quite a challenge, especially when that person was a prodigy of magecraft. Zeref could not only manipulate life and death but was also a master at almost every common magic. Still Erza persevered using Din's Fire on her blades for much more impact. After Erza had worn the band she had given Link and received part of the Triforce of Power she had been training with the three divine spells. She had had little success with Farore's Wind and Nayru's Love however her aptitude for Din's fire was astounding. She had full control over the sacred fire and could easily will it to do whatever she wanted. It worked well as a projectile, as an area of effect and even as an enhancement to her blades. She wielded a black and orange flaming sabre with all the skills of the ancient heroes, Link's training had paid off making her a far better swordsman than ever before, if that was even possible. She swiped with her blade narrowly missing her target as he moved back and launched a counter strike. A ball of darkness was cast at her, knowing she had no way to block it she attempted to dodge it but found that the orb was homing in on her.

Zelda had her covered as the orb his a crystal exploding violently. Zelda then chose to attempt a ranged attack, raising her bow of light to the sky she fired a single arrow. The arrow soared into the sky streaking up into the blackened sky like a shooting star. As it reached the peak of its flight there was a flash of light that was blinding to anyone who looked up. Moments later the attack descended a rain of arrows descended on the arena all of the aimed at Zeref, Zeref looked up and held his hand to the sky as if to shield himself from the light. On command a sphere of shadow enveloped him. The arrows slammed into the shield with hurricane inducing force piercing the shield as they struggled to overcome it. Soon the shadowed dome shattered and Zeref stood unscathed. Just as the pair were to attack again he ordered, "Enough! I have no more time to entertain you I know what your plan was and it is foolish. Even if you distract me so your friends can halt the ritual everyone dies. This ritual will cure the abomination in the sky don't you see we can heal him." Zeref reasoned.

"And when you do 'heal' him what then what happens to us?" Zelda yelled.

"That is up to Acnologia's discretion. It is likely he will kill us all anyway… but would that be so bad. Death is the only cure." Zeref said watching as the two dragons raced around each other in a battle to the death.

"I cannot let that happen." Erza stated firmly, "On my honour as a knight and as a mage of Fairy Tail, I will not let you or that monster destroy our world. I may not be strong enough to beat you Zeref but I am not going to back down, we will win."

"Tch, what makes you so sure? All of you are maggots compared to him nothing more than pests."

"Yes but you underestimate us pests especially the one above us. I believe in the Hero of the Sky, he will win."

Zeref sighed, he hated ignorance above all else, false courage had killed too many people and it would certainly take a life today. He looked over to the resting body of Natsu, if he can't win not even the Hero would be able to.

(...)

Abaddon had finished her first job, the dark mage was possibly the only human left among Tartaros and Zeref had chosen to keep it that way. The necromancer had wept in happiness when her lord Zeref said that she was strong enough as it was to not even need to be tainted by an etherious enhancement. Of course she wouldn't have minded the upgrade in fact she would have welcomed it and so when Zeref had said she had no need for it she had become the happiest woman in the world. What was even greater was that Zeref had actually shown emotion towards her as he had said it. Momentarily replacing his usual bored expression to one that actually looked almost like the hints of a smile. From that moment she swore she would serve the man no longer for her own goals but for his. She of course understood his curse and had shown him great sympathy leading to a rather wonderful working relationship. She was now the one of the coordinators of the demons of Tartaros on level with Mard Geer himself.

Still Mard Geer and the other Demons of Tartaros were occupied currently, the chanting locked them in almost a dream state that forced their continuation of the chant. This was one of the reasons they had not been present in the battle, once the chanting starts the only way to stop it would be to destroy the altar of kill the chanters. The preparations for the circle were now complete which meant she could now move onto her second job while she waited for the chanting to finish.

She returned to the altar smiling slightly as the demons around her chanted unconsciously and the dragons above her roared. The altar was covered in all kinds of carvings that translated to glowing magical circles that hovered above the altar. It was incredible, an ancient form of archive magic created by the dragon slayers of old designed to 'cure' dragons. Zeref had told her that after the dragon war this place changed and became the hall of the dragon king its purpose renewed. She looked up at the midnight black dragon in the sky and grinned, it would be time soon.

The altar did however have a second function, it helped control the portal behind her, Stefan had used it to bring them from the headquarters to here and now they had she had to reset the portal to head to their next destination. As she worked, she looked around the hall. Opposite the altar on the other side of the portal lay a black jagged blade, she was not aware before now that it would be here but she knew of its existence. She had noticed the green swordsman's reaction to it, somehow he knew about it too and that worried her.

The redhead she had fought back in Nagamasa was fighting alongside the blonde that destroyed Vaati against Zeref, even she could recognise their talent and power she knew that they did not stand a chance against Zeref. The other two were not a worry either she doubted either would have the power to… she suddenly realised that the other two were missing from her sights.

She felt cold steel on her neck. It only took a quick glance to know what was going on. She turned to face Kagura who was holding her blade to her neck. Behind her stood the large armoured man that simply radiated pressure.

"Step away from the altar." The young woman ordered.

Abaddon grinned, it had been a while since she had had a real fight, she complied with the command taking a single step away. "It's too late you know, I only have to tap one more command to open the portal and unleash hell on the world." Abaddon threatened.

"All the more reason for us to make you step away from the altar." Mace said in a commanding tone.

"Ha, I don't think you understand, I don't need to press it." Abaddon said as a ghoul rose behind her and place a hand on the altar. Immediately the portal shone blue. Kagura went for the killing blow but missed as Abaddon dropped below the blade and flew into the swordsman tackling her through the portal with her. Suddenly there was a bell toll and Mace looked down and cursed. The magic circle was complete. The glazed eyes of the demons turned a back to normal.

"Ha, well I seem to be surrounded, I hope the kids got the old woman, we're gonna need her," Mace said laughing in the face of his situation the demons locked on to Mace who was standing between him and the portal. Him and their next mission. All of them adopted a predatory grin their eyes lighting up at the sight of their prey. A cat man was the first to launch himself at Mace, he recognised the man in leopard print to be Jackal, one of the nine gates of hell. Mace cursed as the demon cast an explosion at him throwing him like a leaf straight through the portal behind him. Mace just managed to land safely and quickly stood, getting straight back into combat position as the demons followed him through the gate. Mace quickly looked around and cursed once again using the worst word he knew. The four Wizard kings that surrounded Domus Flau witnessed the demons arrival.

"It's over old man, the circle is complete and our king will be revived along with an army of darkness far worse than any of us demons," Jackal warned, "We're just the first wave. Not even this entire army can stop us," he roared.

A bead of sweat fell down Kagura's face, as she pointed her sword at Abaddon. Mace stood fast looking around at the mages and rune knights around them. All of them aiming their magic at the demons coming out of the portal. Mace sighed and summoned a blade, it was war they wanted after all. It appeared that the Battle of Crocus was about to begin.


	49. Dragon Becomes Man

**Chapter 49 - Dragon becomes Man**

**Hey guys. This is a big chapter for me and a huge stepping stone I have been working towards. It is still kinda in beta as I haven't really had time to perfect this chapter or the past few but I do plan on reviewing a load of previous chapters to get them up to scratch. Anyway you will probably be able to tell that the end of this arc is quickly approaching I predict only around 2 chapters left.**

**Anyway please fave and follow if you enjoyed it and once again please make sure you review, i would love your feedback on the events of this chapter. **

**Hope to possibly post again in a week but it is unlikely anyway please enjoy it. **

* * *

Fire clashed with etherion in a maelstrom of power, if two mages fighting was a sight to behold, two dragons was another level entirely. This was without doubt going to be the hairiest fight Link had been in, at least against Demise and Ghirahim, he had been on equal ground. This was different, both of the titanic beasts had the power to destroy Link in the blink of an eye. In comparison, Link was little more than an annoying bug to them. However this bug had a very nasty sting.

Link descended on the two dragons with his holy blade filled with the power from the sky. His blade streaked through the sky with a blue light reminiscent of the stars. With a heroic roar, he aimed his skyward strike at the demonic dragon below him. The blade hit the dragons hide and Link released the overwhelming power within the blade. The blade tore through the dragon's body as Link slid down its flank. Acnologia roared in pain as and instantly spun to knock the pest off. Link knew this would be nothing more than a scratch but was more than happy with the results of his distraction.

The holy blade Link wielded was more than enough to tear through the scales of Acnologia and opened the perfect weakness for the great crimson dragon Igneel to exploit. In Acnologia's moment of distraction Igneel struck, his talons swiped forwards and pierced the broken hide of the black dragon. Acnologia roared and retaliated, clamping down on Igneel's neck. Igneel kicked Acnologia off of him ignoring the fact that Acnologia's teeth carved huge gashes into his neck. Before Igneel could escape Acnologia went in to tackle the fire dragon with enough speed to send Link flying in the opposite direction. The dragons were now once again above the hall of the dragon king and were trading supercharged blows that tore up the island underneath it.

Airya caught Link deftly and began to speed towards the two dragons. Link quickly surveyed the island, the entire place was aflame. In less than five minutes of the titans battling the island had become instantly an uninhabitable hell. It was a miracle the Hall of the Dragon King was still a standing structure. Link goaded his bird to fly faster pulling his bow out as they approached. He fired three arrows charging them with magical power so they flew further and hit harder. As he suspected they bounced of Acnologia's scales as if they were simply pebbles. He resorted to using magic, charging Din's fire in his hand. He loosed the bolt and let it fly towards Acnologia. Then he saw him.

Link cursed as he spotted a pink haired dragon slayer clinging onto Acnologia for dear life, right in the path of Link's spell. "What in Hyrule is he thinking?" Link yelled. Natsu saw the projectile coming and did something only he would do. He jumped off the dragon into the path of the projectile. Link's surprise ended when he watched the projectile collide and exploded on Natsu's body only for it to vanish into his mouth. "Tch, damn fire eater. Airya catch him quick."

Airya went into a semi dive, Link gripped onto the saddle as hard as he could and kept himself close to the bird to stop him flying off. Airya spread her wings and levelled perfectly so that Natsu landed just behind Link. Link grabbed Natsu's blackened scarf before the dragon slayer fell off and genuinely considered thumping him right there.

"I thought I told you to not come up here." Link yelled as Airya swung under Acnologia's leg.

"And when was the last time I followed an instruction like that." Natsu countered.

"You left Zelda and Erza down there with Zeref you fool."

"Zelda? I've heard that before," Natsu clicked in realization, "Oh, I remember that's your ex isn't it? Oh, Erza won't be happy with that."

"Wait, how do you know abou…" Link realised Lucy must have gossiped after possibly hearing it from Erza, "That's not important right now, Shit!" Link said as a giant fireball came their way.

"I got it," Natsu let in a deep breath and ate the fireball despite it being 20 times the size of him. "Link, fly above Igneel quick!"

Link groaned before guiding the loftwing into a steep climb, "Natsu, I have an idea, once you land on Igneel you and him fire the biggest blast of fire at that monster. Make sure he is blinded I will handle the rest."  
"Wait, what are you gonna do?" Natsu asked,

"Let's just say I've been hiding a trump card for a moment like this." Link said pulling off his gauntlet and throwing it off the side of the loftwing. The triforce shone like a sun on his bare hand. "Fi, it's time, prepare yourself."

"Yes, Master," The spirit of the sword said.

"Natsu, get ready to jump, take this it will help with the landing." Link handed Natsu his sail cloth, the one he had received from Zelda all those years ago. "If you lose this or set it on fire I will kill you." Link said with dead seriousness.

"Right," Natsu nodded, "Here I go!" Natsu jumped from the bird without an ounce of fear and directed himself straight for Igneel.

"Right Airya, use the smoke as cover let's get into position." Link said as he slowly drew the master sword. He looked at it nostalgically, it was time to finish this.

Natsu soared towards Igneel diving at terminal velocity. "Igneeeel!" He called gaining the dragon's attention. Natsu quickly swung round so he was falling feet first and held out Link's sailcloth. The cloth expanded instantly and slowed him down enough so he could safely land on the fighting dragons head.

"Natsu, what are you doing here you fool." Igneel yelled.

"Jeez dad, I'm here to help and spare me the lecture I've already had a load from Link."

"The man in green?" Igneel said with a grim expression, Natsu had the feeling that he knew something, "Clearly his judgement was wrong, certainly he is strong but neither of you have the power to challenge him. Natsu duck!" Igneel roared spiralling into a short dive to avoid a ball of destruction.

"Igneel, trust him, he has a plan he says we need to fire the biggest blast we can at that thing, he says he has a secret weapon."

"Natsu, it won't work, this dragon is different from the others no mere mortal can defeat it."

"Do you have a better idea?" Natsu yelled.

"Tch, no."

"Well then let's do it like we normally do and rip this bastard a new one. Together." Natsu yelled.

Igneel had to grin at that, "Fine, let's do this."

Natsu laughed at his meagre victory, "Heh. Now I've gotta real fire in belly!"

"Still coming up with stupid phrases like that huh? I suppose I really did rub off on you." Igneel grinned with anticipation he had been looking forward to doing this agian.

Natsu grinned with his father and together they both roared, "Now I'm all fired up!" Setting themselves both on fire they rocketed towards Acnologia launching the most enormous blast of fire at the demonic dragon as they could. Acnologia was all but consumed.

Link watched from afar, standing on Airya and gripping the master sword tightly. Fire covered the demonic beast, it was time. Link exhaled deeply and prepared himself. The Triforce of Courage began to shine brightly on his hand unleashing its hidden potential. The power ran up the master sword and wind began to whip around it dishevelling his hair and letting his hat flow in the wind. The blade began to exude an almighty power as Link began to pray to the goddess Hylia in the ancient Hylian language. Slowly in a single hand he raised the master sword above his head holding it diagonally towards the sky and allowing it to be filled with the tumultuous power of the sky goddess. The blade began to shine gold, brighter than any sun as the power of the Triforce blazed out from it. An entire typhoon of wind now surrounded it as it showed its untapped potential. Acnologia erupted from the flames unscathed and enraged, he cast the remainder of the fire away as if it were nothing. Link knew then it was time and raised his right hand to the hilt of the blade. Instantly the wind died and the world seemed to stop still, it was just Link and the shining blade of evil's bane. Link closed his eyes and prepared himself as Acnologia's attention turned to him. He opened his eyes showing the ferocious merciless orbs within them.

"Fi, let's do this!"

"Yes master. The parameters have been exceeded, preparations for the ultimate attack will be ready in three, two…"

"Hylia's!"

"One!"

"Wrath!"

Acnologia roared releasing a great attack at Link but the hero didn't falter. He simply swung his blade down and unleashed the Master Sword's ultimate attack in a gold streak of light.

The power of the goddesses and the power of the dragon's collided. The world was silent as the forces struggled against each other. Link stood confidently and turned away knowing what outcome to expect. The Master Sword smoked as he sheathed it and the attacks died into nothing. He had won, the dragon was most definitely defeated.

There was no time for Link to process the fact that he was very wrong.

"LINK!"

Link heard Natsu's voice but it was far too late. The world fell silent. Link coughed blood and was thrown off his bird instantly. Link flew through the air, the only thing he could feel was pain. Red clouded his vision and his own blood soaked his tunic. Link looked above him as he fell watching as Acnologia's tail sailed over him covered in his own blood. He heard a familiar screech from above him and saw his beautiful red loftwing go in a desperate dive to save him.

It happened all too quickly after that. A single swipe of the demons talons was all it took. Red feathers fell, covered in well camouflaged blood. Link couldn't even scream or call out the name of his beloved companion, he just watched wide eyed as the mangled corpse of his first companion fell into the flaming forest below.

Igneel roared as loud as he could and soared high into the sky. "Natsu, get off now!" he ordered.

"Igneel we have to save Link!"

"Exactly now go!" Igneel spun and cast Natsu off of him throwing him towards Link who was easily on the verge of death. Igneel levelled out above the clouds and Acnologia met him.

Acnologia unleashed his terrifying bellow. Igneel seemed to only sigh "You have fallen low Dragon King, cursed by your own power you lack the ability to even speak. Despite this I do know what you are telling me. This battle may be over, but I am not going down without taking something with me!" Igneel unleashed a matching roar and soared towards Acnologia. Cloaked in fire the flame dragon king tore at Acnologia, using his mighty talons to tear at the wound Link opened up earlier. He succeeded in tearing it open even wider so that the dragons blood flowed out of it like water. This however came at the final price. Acnologia once again bit down into Igneel's neck and was rewarded with a satisfying scream of pain from his foe. He then charged up a roar in his mouth and using it tore Igneel's head from his body.

"DAAAAAAD!" Igneel heard from below, watching as the dragon slayer collided with the ground in the hall of the dragon king Natsu dropped Link next to him and ran towards his father.

Before the light left his eyes Igneel managed his final words, "Live, son!" At these words Natsu fell to his knees in complete and utter despair as he watched his father die in front of him.

The fight between Zeref, Erza and Zelda had stopped, the two women running to the injured Link's side. Zeref looked to the sky watching as Acnologia landed on the north side of the hall carrying the head of Igneel like a trophy. He spat his trophy out smiling sadistically as it landed in front of the dragon slayer that had called it father. The moment his feet touched the ground the great red magic circle shone as it finally activated.

Zeref smiled, "This is it my lord this is what you wanted, be healed from your curse and rejoin the realm of man."

Erza looked to Zeref and Acnologia in realisation, "We're too late… We've lost."

Link barely conscious looked to Acnologia and watched as the blue markings on his body turned a deep firey red, "He is coming." He choked, knowing all along what Acnologia truly was. Tears ran down the heroes face.

Acnologia began to shine and instantly a burst of deep purple flame consumed the beast. Acnologia screamed in pain as he shrunk down, deafening all in the area. If the sky could get any darker than it already was, it did. The greatest enemy of mankind took his first step on the cracked ground of the ancient hall.

Link watched in complete despair as his worst fears appeared before him, he had failed in his mission he had lost. A giant armoured hand took the hilt of the cursed black sword in front of him. With a sickening shriek the blade was yanked from its resting place and raised above the demons flaming hair.

Zeref bowed deeply and spoke out above the deathly silence, "Your return has been long awaited. Allow me the honour of being first to welcome you back, Demon of Destruction, Welcome back, Demise."

The giant man looked down with his small piercing eyes at the dark mage below him, he then grinned sadistically, "You know I do not go by that name any more." He then turned to Natsu watching the dragon slayer weep over his dead adopted father. Such disrespect did the old fire bastard not teach him who he was truly descended from. "Boy, Speak my true name."

"I apologise. Welcome back, Ganondorf Dragneel."

Zeref looked at his brother with a calm expression attempting to gauge his reaction. He was surprised when Natsu didn't even move.

Ganondorf also seemed surprised by this, he stepped towards the broken dragon slayer. "So you accepted my name yet have no idea who I am… who you truly are." He stated, "We should rectify this immediately. Natsu Dragneel, the last time I saw you, you were nothing more than a runt I had cast out into the wilderness, I watched as you died out there. Yet you stand here alive, you have overcome death and have exceeded all my expectations of you. You have proven yourself quite worthy. Yet still you cry over a faker, Natsu, stand and accept your true father... me."

Natsu's tears stopped as he realised what had happened, he gave a sideward glance to Zeref attempting to confirm whether what he was hearing was true. His blood brother's face told him everything. Natsu cast his gaze back to the floor a mix of emotions flowing through his body. He didn't want to believe it, but he knew deep down that it was true. He smiled.

"My Father huh?" Natsu pulled himself up ignoring his injuries, he then looked at Ganondorf right in the eyes standing as if the two were equals. "Bullshit." Ganondorf grinned at this, "A father in nothing but blood is not a father at all.

The only father I ever had… Was Igneel!"

Natsu adopted a predatory gaze that exuded confidence he had found his enemy and he was going to fucking destroy it. Ganondorf only grinned as he felt the power coming off of his son and watched his son's skin become deep crimson scales.

Erza looked on in awe, she had seen this before. Natsu at his most fearsome, she remembered the time on the top of the Tower of Heaven well. The power that emanated from Natsu that day was incredible, this however was something else, something even more powerful. The room became unbearably hot as waves of energy pulsed from the dragon slayer.

"Dragon Force," Erza whispered in awe of the power. No doubt triggered by the death of Igneel Natsu had tapped into the strongest weapon in his arsenal. The weapon being activated by Natsu's sheer rage and drive to destroy the one who destroyed his father.

Ganondorf didn't even flinch.

Natsu's fist erupted bringing his blazing rage to life. "Fire Dragon's Iron Fist," Natsu went for the uppercut, Ganondorf merely stepped back. Natsu then spun into a roundhouse kick setting his leg on fire as it collided with the heavy black armour Ganondorf wore. Ganondorf was thrown back only a foot by the attack but looked totally unscathed. Natsu continued his onslaught. "Fire Dragon's Roar!" Natsu brought his fists to his mouth and channelled a breath of fire that rivalled even Igneel's. It consumed Ganondorf easily swirling around him like a vortex. A scream of insane pain roared from the demon within the vortex and Ganondorf fell to his knees.

Erza watched astonished as she felt the presence of the Demon disappear. Had he done it? He couldn't have, it was too easy. Or was dragon force just that powerful. Just as Erza got her hopes up Link grasped her hand tightly and shook his head.

His suspicions were confirmed by the low cackle that came as the vortex died down. Ganondorf remained without a scratch as he knelt on one knee. Patches of fire still blazed around him, the edges of his long crimson cape were still aflame but he ignored them. Continuing with his laugh he stood to his full height and looked down on his enraged son.

"My you have grown into quite the weapon, a flame like that exceeds even Volga in power, there is no doubt you are my son. Still you have a way to go before any of your attacks can even touch me. Natsu, I have an offer for you…"

"Screw your offer!" Natsu bellowed as he launched himself at Ganondorf cloaked in the hottest flames he had ever created.

Ganondorf roared at being interrupted and swung his deep black blade. The flat of his blade collided with Natsu and threw him into the wall nearby.

"Boy! Do not try me! If one such as I gives you an offer, you will listen and then you will make your decision no earlier, no later."

"Save your breath you big, ginger oaf. Just know there ain't no way I'm accepting an offer from you. My only goal from now is to throw you back to the hell you came from, even if i have to escort you there myself."

"Is that so?" Ganon mused, "It is a shame, I would have enjoyed seeing you grow under my tutelage but you have made your decision, since you so boldly declared how much you want to kill me you are welcome to try but do not expect to live for more than a second if you do. Mercy is no longer something I do." Ganondorf began to release a powerful but passive aura, everything about it said 'I can kill you whenever I like'.

Natsu was totally unperturbed, "That's fine by me punk!" Natsu yelled setting himself on fire, "Here I come! Dragon Slayer Secret Art: Phoenix Blade." Natsu burst forward shattering the sound barrier as he launched himself at the seemingly unprepared Ganondorf. At the last second every muscle in Ganondorf's body tensed and he unleashed the most powerful aura Natsu had ever felt. Demise loosed his sword and Natsu threw his fist.

Neither made contact with the other but both instead hit metal with an ear shattering clang. Natsu looked ahead to see what he had hit. He gasped at what he saw, familiarly piercing eyes met his and bright red hair billowed out behind the queen who had leapt in between the dragon and the demon. Erza's adamantine armour glowed golden empowered by the shining object on Erza's left hand. She thrust her two shield away from her tossing the two men back. Titania had arrived.

Ganondorf grinned at the sight before him as he broke off from the shining shield.

"Beautiful, truly I see you are worthy of bearing such a gift. I should thank you girl, this makes my first objective all the easier. Bringing me the Triforce of Power certainly warrants the reward of a quick death." Ganondorf roared almost with glee.

Erza turned her ferocious gaze to Ganondorf, "Just you try your luck."

(...)

Link cursed as he realized what had happened. Biting back the pain he weakly said, "Fi, quickly assess me for damage."

"I have already done a full body scan master, you are in critical condition. It is against my primary function to allow you to contin..."

"Fi, I know I'm critical, details!" Link said angrily, Zelda was not the only one to notice the hint of desperation in his voice.

"You currently have 6 broken ribs, both legs are fractured beyond normal healing, your shield arm is also broken in two places. You have sustained multiple large gashes and you are internally bleeding in 30% of your body. You have lost an increasing 1.5 litres of blood. You also have a severe case of concussion and a split forehead. As I have said your situation is critical you need immediate medical attention."

"What do I have to do?" Zelda asked.

"You know healing magic?" Link asked deperately.

"Yes but I'm not confident, Fi guide me though what I have to do."

"No, Zelda do what say and do it as quickly as you can! Seal the open wounds and heal the fractures as fast as you can."

"Master that is not advis…" Fi complained.

"Just do it!" Link shouted looking Zelda directly in the eyes. Zelda was shocked at the intensity but nodded ant tapped into the river of magic that flowed through her.

(...)

Natsu didn't even take the time to complain he burst forward cloaked in flame roaring at the fact that he was being ignored. He didn't give a fuck that Erza was in the way, he would take her out as well if it meant he could kill the bastard who murdered his father. He flew towards them before being interrupted once again.

He felt the magic being launched at him and produced an intense flame to his side in order to counter it. The magic blasted him away but Natsu survived unscathed. Natsu landed, his feet dug deep smouldering trenches into the ground. Natsu dissipated his fire and felt as the scales across his body spread. He turned to the nuisance that attacked him. Zeref stood calmly with his palm outstretched facing Natsu.

"Natsu, your opponent will always be me." Zeref stated.

"I am not interested!" Natsu roared.

"If you wish to fight our father you must get through me first just as I must go through you. It is time for us to see which is the stronger brother, it is time for us to see if your potential is as truly unlimited as I created it to be." Zeref challenged.

(...)

Erza matched the gaze of Ganondorf changing into her Heavens Wheel armour and drawing two of her prized blades. She then retreated a short distance and sized her opponent up.

"Ganondorf, My name is Erza Scarlett, Queen of the Fairies. I am here to destroy you once and for all." Erza claimed pointing a blade at Ganondorf.

"Queen of the Fairies, huh? An interesting title. Well then queen of the fairies you have something of mine on your left hand and I will be taking it back." Purple fire flooded up Ganondorf's blade as he launched himself at Erza tearing up the ground in his wake. Erza prepared herself for the fight of her life, she gave a final glance at the one she was fighting for. She would win this for him, she would win this battle to save Link.


	50. Love vs Hate

**Chapter 50 - Love vs Hate**

**19/10/15**

**Phew, Chapter 50 guys and this one was a pain in the butt to write. I hope you enjoy it. Anyway this arc only has a single chapter left after this one. I was originally planning on ending the story around here but there are still a lot of loose ends so I created a new plan which I've actually now had for a long time. So the story will be continuing after this though we are perhaps around 70% through the entire story (I hope). **

**Anyway tell me what you think of the new chapter and please fave and follow if you haven't already. **

**See you guys soon :P **

* * *

Ganondorf laughed as he deflected the blades that flew at him. Erza followed the blades as if she were one of them herself, clad in her flight armour she easily evaded the demon's great-sword by jumping high into the air. She switched her twin daggers out for a pair of stunted falchions for more reach and with the grace of a pouncing cat she descended on the flame haired monster.

Ganondorf raised his blade above his head catching both blades before they could hit him. Erza grimaced, as Ganondorf smirked at her from behind his sword.

Erza somersaulted away but Ganondorf pressed his advantage. Erza swiftly avoided his sword, skirting round the giant man while distracting him with more aerially summoned blades. Ganondorf swung his blade once whipping up a great storm of wind that deflected every blade instantly. Erza knew this would be a challenge but the enemy in front of him seemed overwhelming. His aura oozed experience power and malevolence to a terrifying extent.

Ganondorf attacked with a speed that was far beyond his hulking size. Erza just managed to block his blow by summoning half of her adamantine shield. She quickly retreated using her flame empress blade to draw a line of fire between them. Ganondorf laughed from behind the fire.

"You are certainly entertaining girl, your magic is quite unique if you had not stolen the triforce from me I would consider asking for your loyalty. It is truly a shame to waste an ability such as yours."

"Huh, As if I would join the likes of a demon who only seeks destruction." Erza challenged.

Ganondorf grimaced his eyes setting alight with anger, he spoke in a booming voice, "Insulting me is tantamount to death, mage. I have never sought destruction, I have only revelled in attaining power over the gods who oppressed me. Those who stood in my way merely fell as collateral in my conquest."

"I see, so you are nothing more than a raging boar that must be put down, it would be a pleasure to be the executioner."

Ganondorf gritted his teeth, and quietly said, "I told you, insulting me is tantamount to death. I will teach you to treat your words as your blood." He stepped through the fire unfazed approaching the mage menacingly as the fire blazed behind him. "Erza, Queen of the Fairies, you won't live to see the sunrise." He said as he met her vicious gaze with one of pure malice.

(…)

Zelda was working her hardest. Guided by Fi, she repaired Link's wounds one at a time using the power the goddesses had gifted her. Every now and then she would glance at the fight between Erza and Ganondorf, she knew there was no way she could win. The only blade that could truly kill the demon lay on the floor beside her and the only one with the heart to wield the holy blade was in front of her with a broken body.

Link's nails clawed at the stone below him. He writhed like an animal, but let out no sound. Zelda could see it clearly, Link would not openly admit the pain he was under. Healing a person like this was an excruciatingly painful experience very similar to the use of heart potions. Zelda's heart wrenched at Link's every pained motion, it was as much torture to her as it was for him, to be the cause of such pain was truly something that went against the very core of her being. Every now and then she would whisper encouraging words to the Hero, "You're almost there," "It will be over soon," "I'm so sorry," The tears that landed on Link's green tunic acted as proof of her honesty.

Of course the healing was not the only source of Link's pain, Erza was battling Ganondorf. Very few people came out alive from such an encounter and Link knew this. He reached his hand out to grab Zelda's in a vice grip causing her to flinch violently. Link looked into her eyes telling her to be as quick as possible. It was desperation more than anything. Desperation to protect the one he truly loved. To be defend her against the unstoppable force she was up against.

Zelda understood this, "Link, we're nearly there," Zelda said finishing his fractured leg.

Link continued to look at her, no longer writhing in pain, tears ran over his face, "Zelda," he choked, "I… I'm so glad… you'r…"

"I know Link, but let's do this later," Zelda's lips tightened, there was a reason he was telling her this now and not later but she refused to believe it.

Link continued to look at her, he had not released her wrist yet, "Zelda… when you're finished…, take Erza… and Natsu and get out. Destroy the portal and leave me to figh…"

"Link No! We fight him together, as the bearers of the trifo…"

"Zelda listen… none of us have a complete… triforce," Link gasped, Zelda looked at him in confusion, "I will… explain… later just please." He continued.

After a second Zelda nodded in defeat. "Fine, I'll get Erza and Natsu out of here, but if you… you'd better be right behind us." She commanded. Link looked away painfully, Zelda got back to work another tear slid down her face. She steeled herself and continued healing him. She was almost done. It was just one last minor fracture in Link's sword hand.

A scream came from fight between Erza and Ganondorf. Link came to life instantly.

"Tch, and you call yourself a wielder of the triforce. You cannot even use its power for anything other than those measly spells." Ganondorf roared as he held Erza up by the throat, holding her above himself with ease. Erza was wearing a powerful armour Link had not seen before, yet Ganondorf had still managed to defeat her. Link didn't even hesitate, in less than a second he had almost crossed the distance between him and his greatest foe.

"Dragon Slayer's chains." Ganondorf commanded before Link could get close enough. Chains erupted from the earth behind Link and launched themselves towards him. Link spun round and defended against the dragon shaped shackles. His shield batted them to the side easily, his sword however faltered. Link yelled in pain as his fractured wrist collapsed from the pressure. That was all Ganondorf needed to capture the hero. The glowing blue chains caught him quickly shackles catching his limbs within their jaws, hooked teeth sunk into the hero's skin. Link roared as he pulled against the shackles in futility.

Ganondorf laughed, "A hero of legend, I thought I had wiped out the last of your line. It seems the gods have played yet another foolish trick on me. Still it is pointless, not even the first hero of legend would be able to beat me as I am." Ganondorf decided, "Now Queen of the Fairies, you have something of mine and I would quite like it returned to me. Normally the only way to pry the triforce off of a person is to kill them and let it naturally come to the killer. However I wish to teach you a lesson in how to correctly wield the triforce of power and so I will settle for this."

Ganondorf dropped Erza and grabbed her left arm. In a swift motion he raised his blade above his head and brought it down on the arm. Erza screamed in pain clutching her wound as blood poured between her fingers.

"ERZA!" Link roared in horror seeing the blood stain her armour. As the arm died the piece of the triforce began to glow. Slowly it flew out of the Erza's hand hovering above the arm as it spun slowly. Ganondorf's eyes lit up as he reached towards it.

Link roared in sheer rage as he looked at the overjoyed man. Every muscle in the hero's body tensed as he pulled against the chains. His eyes returned to their enraged feral state he had a target and nothing was going to get in his way. He was going to kill it. "Farore's wind!" Link yelled. His entire body disapparated in a wisp of wind, he reappeared in above Ganondorf and began to spin as he descended on the demon. Ganondorf touched the triforce of power just on time. The burst of energy their contact released sent Link flying back. Ganondorf began to shine with a golden light which quickly turned black. He smiled as he pointed his fist to the air. Link looked on in despair as the shining symbol of the triforce revealed itself on the back of his hand.

Suddenly Ganondorf smile left him and he brought his hand down to inspect the mark. Immediately rage filled his face. "What trickery is this?" he roared, "This triforce has been shattered how?" he looked towards Erza who was attempting to stand whilst clutching the stump where her arm once was.

"You, What did you do?" he roared approaching her at an enraged run. He raised his blade to her once again and brought it down on the woman. Erza was about to defend herself as best she could until she heard the familiar unique ring of the Master sword. She collapsed to the ground. As she gazed up at the green warrior above her. The Master sword collided with Ghirahim sending a shockwave throughout the entire hall. The wild blue eyes of the hero once again met with the black eyes of the demon king.

"If you raise your blade to her again I will make sure there is nothing left of your bloody corpse." Link growled.

Ganondorf grimaced, he had faced many, many heroes and by now he had learned to never underestimate them. Especially when they are defending someone they supposedly cared about. Still he taunted back. "You can try, hero."

Ignoring the pain in his wrist Link pushed Ganondorf away and yelled, "Zelda, Now!"

Zelda acted immediately using Farore's wind to pick up Erza and whisked her towards the portal. Natsu was nowhere to be seen so she was forced to abandon him.  
"No! Link! What are you doing?" Erza called in protest.

"Erza go I will catch up!" Link yelled.

"NO, I AM NOT LEAVING YOU WITH…"

"ERZA!" Link yelled, "Please."

Erza looked at the pained face of Link, he was torn, love and destiny, he could only choose one.

"Let me finish this, once and for all." Link said quietly.

Erza knew then, he was going to sacrifice himself. "No! Link you can't, if you lov…"

"ZELDA GO!"

The last Link heard of Erza's voice was her screaming his name as she reached out with her remaining hand. One tear rolled down Link's face. "May we meet again in another life." Link whispered as his heart froze over.

Ganondorf looked at the hero with a smirk, a smirk that became a chuckle, a chuckle which became a laugh, "Like all heroes you are a fool, by now those demons will be in control of your capital and every forsaken soul there will be doomed. You have only prolonged her life momentarily. Why did you do it boy? You love her do you not? Of course you do, with her body and looks I can hardly blame you. Still love is a foolish notion, love only takes, it will take from you and her and every other person around you until only you are left. That is the truth behind your love. That is all love can surmount to."

Link stayed silent testing how well his wrist worked. It certainly was not at full functionality but he estimated it would be able to deliver and receive blows. Keeping up with the demons game Link continued the conversation, "You are wrong, Demise." He stated.

"Oh am I now?"

"Aye, but I will not waste my breath trying to explain it to you. You cannot teach a rock how to sing." Link said raising his sword and shield into his standard combat pose.

"I see. Hmmm, how nostalgic. Once again I stand alone in an arena against a single hero of legend. You remind me so much of the first it is almost funny. The fact that you called me Demise makes me wonder all the more."

"There is more irony surrounding the two of us than you know." Link replied.

"I see," Ganondorf grinned sadistically, "Well then Hero. Let us re-enact a battle of legend."

"This one however will end quite differently."

(…)

"RRRRAAAAAAAAGGGGHHHHH!"

Natsu roared as he tore towards Zeref. Fire blazed from every pore in his body. Zeref, although pained to admit it was in fact on the defensive, he skidded back as Natsu met him. Zeref coated his arm in his black magic and broke Natsu's blow. Shockwaves of fire and darkness burst out for every hit he managed to defend. For every step Natsu made, every punch he unleashed, every time he clashed with Zeref the ground shattered making the arena rocky and unsteady. The entire hall had been torn apart by the fighting. It was unsurprising that the enraged Natsu was the cause of most of the damage. Natsu retreated and from his hands he released an enormous ball of fire that rolled towards Zeref.

"Fire Dragon's Sprouting Lotus!" he roared.

Zeref held a hand out in response and loosed his dark power. It spread around him as a shield, the ball of fire struck the shield. Zeref instantly felt the strain on his arm and instantly supported it with his other arm as his entire body was forced back carving deep trenches in the ground below. Zeref gasped as the fireball seemed to spread out growing into distinct petals that wrapped around his shield and attempted to break through. He then saw the silhouette of the approaching Natsu from the centre of the giant flaming flower. His fist was drawn back and he was flying at an incredible speed towards the shield. The shield did not hold against his power shattering the moment his fist collided with it. Zeref watched as the scaled dragon slayer landed and smashed the ground with his fists. A huge stream of fire carved its way through the earth towards Zeref throwing stone and soil at least nine feet into the air either side of the approaching flame that was twice as tall.

Zeref calmed himself and flooded magic into his legs. He was going to face this head on, it was his turn to go on the offensive. He drove himself into Natsu's attack slicing his way through the fire like a blade through flesh.

Natsu faced him on the other side, his fists raised defensively ready for whatever Zeref could throw at him. Zeref collided with Natsu like a freight train blasting the pair of them together out of the hall of the dragon king and off the edge of the peak.

As he fell from the peak, Natsu's eyes were only focused on one thing, the body of the man in front of him. Zeref started with a frontal punch. _Defend_. A low uppercut. _Defend_. A high kick. _Defend_. A double roundhouse… feint. _Defend. Defend. Defend_… _Attack_. Natsu set fire to his entire arm and hurled it at his foe. It missed.

"Too late!" Zeref yelled seeing his opening and placing a single hand on Natsu's chest. He immediately fired a concentrated bolt of magic from his palm tossing Natsu towards the earth like a meteorite. Natsu collided with the earth causing a catastrophic fiery explosion. As Zeref slowed his own descent he watched as the fire cleared. Natsu looked up from within the crater with a feral snarl plastered on his face. His chest smoked and Zeref could see a few scales on his chest fall to the ground below.

Zeref cursed the power of dragon force, it had caused him so many problems over the years. It had been what had cursed his father into dragon form, it was a pain in the ass to beat and it was strong enough to put down even a dragon. Still the dragon slayers of old didn't hold a candle to the power Natsu had. It was odd but Zeref understood why, Natsu's strength stemmed from something incredibly fundamental, yet even his father couldn't truly comprehend it.

Natsu was fighting for a reason that was for more than revenge or rage, Natsu wasn't lashing out at the world for his misfortune like most dragon slayers he had met… no Natsu was fighting for the purest reason of all. He was fighting for the love of his late foster-father, for the love of the world in which existed, for the love of his friends and family. A tear rolled down Zeref's cheek, maybe, like this, Natsu could end it. Maybe he could end Zeref's torture.

"Fire Dragon's Roar!" Natsu yelled launching his flames forward. Zeref defended himself using protection magic it only just managed to hold up before Natsu attacked once again. The dragon slayer rose to meet him in the sky bringing his leg down on Zeref's head. Zeref raised both his arms to block the attack holding Natsu mid-air before he cast him away with a nasty curse.

both combatants landed on the ground below the peak. Natsu roared in pain as the cursed enveloped his arms. Zeref ran up to him with a smooth grace and kicked Natsu in the chest surrounding his leg in black magic. Natsu attempted to flip into a safe landing but as his arms touched the ground a shot of intense pain ran up them and he collapsed into the floor. His scales protected him from any further damage. He pulled himself up clenching his fists. They were considerably weakened by the pain but Natsu didn't even wince.

He glared at Zeref, fire at his feet released embers that floated above the dragon slayers face and threatened to rise and engulf Natsu. Zeref opposed him taking up a relaxed battle stance, Natsu noticed the calm smile on his face and the line of silver running down his cheeks. He had never understood that about Zeref, for the greatest dark mage in history he was the biggest crybaby he had ever met. Natsu grunted, it was time for some real answers.

"Zeref, when I met you on Tenrou Island, you said I was the only one who could stop you. Why? Why do all this Zeref? What is your goal?!" Natsu demanded the answer from the dark mage.

Zeref stood silent for a while before relaxing from his battle pose and looking away from Natsu, "I am willing to tell you, but it is a long and tragic tale," Natsu stayed silent not relaxing from his angered battle stance, "As you may know by now I have been put under a curse. Ankhseram black magic. The ability to take the life of anything I desire at any time on one condition. I must truly detest the world around me I must truly detest the life I am taking. However, it is a spell of contradiction, if one loves the world as I once did, it will teach you how to hate it. It will take life indiscriminately from those around you, targeting specifically those around you who you love. Do you know how I got this curse Natsu? I got it for trying to save you.

When you were born I was overjoyed. I had a brother that I could share the world with, one that I could teach everything I knew about magic to. I decided you would be just like me. We would be partners, best friends, brothers. In an apocalyptic world we would grow, fight and overcome the oppression the dragons wrought on us. But then, without even telling me, father cast you out, he called you a runt, and a weakling. I pleaded for him to save you but he did not listen, he simply watched as dragons came for a toddler who knew nothing of the world. I couldn't stand back and watch. I ran out over the scorched earth, I picked you out from the mouth of a dragon and ran as fast as I could away from the monstrosities. As I returned to our home Father was waiting for us. Needless to say he was furious, then and there he told me that love was weak in this world and it would only destroy. In that moment he cursed me forever, with the dark magic of Ankhseram. I refused to believe him, back then I was under the naïve notion that the power of love and comradery was far stronger than any sort of hatred. The curse then proved me wrong. I lost control of the curse instantly and took my very first life. That night all those centuries ago you died in my arms." Zeref stayed silent for a moment, his voice crackled before he began again,

"After that I ran, clutching the body of my brother I ran. I found a new home and began to work. I had a single goal, to reverse what I had done to the one I loved. Days turned to weeks, weeks to months and months to lifetimes I didn't age a day. I soon realised that the curse came with a secondary effect, I had gained immortality. My research took me down dark forbidden paths, eventually I found what I was looking for, Living magic. The magic to use etherion in the world to create life. I experimented with it but all my creations came out to be abominations. Demons of the most horrific kind. But it was my only option. By this point I was a renowned and hated dark mage, I did not want to kill yet I stole life from whoever dared come close enough. I didn't want to take any more lives and so with my final act I created the last etherious demon. The strongest etherious demon from the books of Zeref. The E.N.D. I resurrected you Natsu as an etherious demon. This was eighteen years ago now, after that I went into slumber, to avoid the same thing happening again, I refused to accidently kill you again and so I released you into the wild with a single purpose. I prayed that one day you would return to me, with the strength to take my life so that I could finally be free."

Natsu stared at Zeref unflinchingly, nothing on his face revealed whether he believed the story or not. "That does not explain why you brought Acnologia back." He stated

Zeref looked at Natsu with his cold expression, "After we met on Tenrou island, I realised my hopes were… futile, you were not going to get strong enough in time. So to end my life I chose a different path. I succumbed to the curse laid on me and began to hate the world. I knew then there was only one who would be able to truly kill me once and for all. My own father and so I set out to revive the one who had cursed me originally. At the end of the dragon war, Ganondorf overused his abilities, his dragon slayer magic consumed him. He became the Dragon king and using his abilities wiped out all the dragons he could.

In order to end my own life I abandoned you and chose to return Acnologia to his true form, the reincarnation of Demise. Argh!"

The punch was brutal and sent Zeref rolling away, "You mean you did all this, for your own selfishness! I'm only alive because you wanted me to kill you! What the fuck does that mean?!" Natsu roared.

Zeref coughed as he pulled himself up, "I am sorry Natsu but…"

"Shut the fuck up!" Natsu yelled, "Do you even realise what you've done! You have hurt those I care about, you brought that flamed haired bastard back from the dead knowing full well he's bad fucking news for the entire world. you did all this so someone would kill you?" Natsu paused, his face tempting itself to relax in pity. "Death is too good for the likes of you." He growled, "I've decided, you're going to finish what you started."

"Tch, and how are you going to go about that brother?"

"I don't care? We'll figure out something."

"What? You truly are as insane as the stories say. After all this you expect me to just join you?" Zeref asked amused, "Why show me mercy? Why not just kill me? Remain my enemy?" Zeref asked.

Natsu turned to him and pointed a finger and a thumb to the sky. Shivers ran down Zeref's spine he knew that point, he knew what it meant, and most of all where it originated. Zeref followed the hand to the sky and saw her. "Because she is here!" Natsu stated.

A shining fairy hovered above the hall of the dragon king, blonde hair waved in the wind as the fairy looked upon the ruined hall below. "Mavis," Zeref whispered.

* * *

**Prepare your butts! The long awaited, Link vs Ganondorf fight coming next chapter. **


	51. The Sacrifice of Crocus

**Chapter 51 - The Sacrifice of Crocus**

**15/12/2015**

**I'm back! you guys thought i'd forgotten about this hadn't you. Truth is there are lot of reasons why this is so late out, work, uni, drinking, a new project, writers block. They all came together to make this chapter as late as possible. You should know this is not quite the chapter you were expecting but it is the chapter that was needed it ties off at least one little thing that probably needed to be tied off which has made me happy. unfortunately due to the nature of the chapter I have found it difficult to include every thing and this chapter may go through a rewrite at some stage. **

**I feel like this entire arc needs a bit of rewriting. looking at Fairy tail plotlines there is always quite a bit more exhibition of characters and enemies which i have missed out on due to the fact i was trying to keep everything a mystery. hopefully i should get the next chapter written the before new year if all goes well. **

**Anyway, tell me what you think because i am quite unsure about this entire chapter, also fave and follow if you enjoyed it. **

* * *

The next thing Erza heard after coming through the portal was war. She was however totally oblivious to it, chaos surrounded her and Zelda but the only thing she could see was the collapse of the portal she had recently left. The faint shimmering vision of the green warrior drawing his sword vanished as she was cut off from Link. Her tears refused to stop. She screamed out once again in anguish before she was roughly pulled round by Zelda.

A sharp and stinging slap met her cheeks. Rage filled her as she looked up at the blonde who had hit her. Someone was going to pay for all this and Zelda was conveniently within punching distance. Furious brown eyes locked with Zelda's and then faltered. Zelda was considerably shorter than Erza however the carefree spirit that Zelda was normally had vanished, replaced by a Zelda that held cold duty filled eyes. The Zelda who was to be Queen.

Zelda looked up at Erza and without even trying caused her to back down. "Erza, I know this is hard, but have faith. This is Link we're talking about. If anyone can do this it's him. Now look around, there is a war going on here and you are bleeding out of your shoulder. We have to move quickly!" She ordered.

Erza gave a single look at the gate before nodding… she could trust Link couldn't she?

"Watch it!" A voice came from above. All of a sudden a hulking great body stood above them. An explosion erupted over him as the body shielded them from attack. Erza looked up to see Elfman in beast form shielding them from an almighty explosion.

"Erza, be more attentive there's a battle going on you know, and you have the nerve to call yourself Titania. Fairy machine gun: leprechaun!"

Evergreen flew above Elfman chastising her rival whilst releasing a spray of golden magic shots. Erza looked up at the pair of them as they smiled and stuck their thumbs up.

"Go!" Elfman roared, "Us men will cover you!"

"Just who are you calling a man!" Evergreen yelled at Elfman.

Erza and Zelda needed no second warning, they both began to run as fast as they could. Erza only now could survey the battlefield. Rune knights, mages and palace guards were all doing battle in the great arena of Domus Flau. Monsters of every kind surrounded them, from flying pterosaurs to great knights in black armour. Spaced out around the arena were the demons of Tartaros battling the various members of the guilds that participated in the games. Master Makarov seemed to be leading the battle he was in his titan form battling a black haired demon producing great roses to attack. The entire place was in chaos as all kinds of magic spilled out in all directions. A great flying lizard swooped down at them at incredible speed. Erza was about to take it head on but Zelda beat her to it. A Din's Fire exploded on the monsters chest blasting it into oblivion.

"Erza!" she heard from one of the tunnels into the arena. The voice was Wendy's but she was looking very different. Her usual blue hair was a bright violet and feathers sprouted from her ankles, wrists and back. Erza could feel the power emanating from her. Erza looked at the child's opponent, an enormous blue monster that was grinning sadistically. Erza recognised it, it was a demon of Tartaros. Carla was lying injured but conscious on the floor. "I'll be with you in a minute but…" Wendy squealed as a tentacle flew at her knocking her miles back.

The demon laughed as she hit the wall blowing up a giant dust cloud.

"Wendy!" Erza yelled, calling on her magic to summon a blade. Before Erza could do anything she heard Wendy's voice again.

"It's rude to interrupt people!" She yelled casting the dust cloud away with a blast of air.

"I control this space." She announced warningly, staring down the great demon, "Shattering Light! Sky Drill!" she yelled.

Light tore forward from the small dragon slayer carving its way towards the four armed enemy. The great demon was consumed for only a moment before he sliced his way free. Each of his arms had become great blades, "Slashing mode," it roared. But its transformation was far too late. Wendy was already below the demon. "Sky Dragon's call." She said peacefully as she placed a hand on the demon. Immediately a great tornado of wind erupted from her hand and thrust the demon miles into the sky outside the arena.

Erza looked on in awe more than a little proud. After that Wendy could no longer be called a timid little girl. There was no doubt about it she was a true dragon slayer.

"Erza your arm!" Wendy called running up to her.

"You must be Wendy," Zelda said, "Please stop the bleeding, she won't last long otherwise."

"Right," Wendy said frowning as she got to work.

"You were amazing Wendy." Erza complimented calmly.

"Thanks but I'm at the limit of my power, everyone else is the same. This battle isn't going well Erza, for everything we beat another just takes its place and we have no clue where they are coming from, we need Natsu and Link… Can I… do you know where they are?"

Erza's lips tightened as her chest became heavy.

"They're coming the long way round," Zelda interrupted, "We should retreat quickly there is no need for the needless loss of life and I don't think we can win this battle."

"We know we are already trying to retreat but we haven't had an opportunity. Jellal and Mest are doing their best to organise the retreat in the city. We're only here so the lesser guilds and the rune knights can get out." Carla said flying over.

"Right, in that case I'm going to get Erza out of here, I'll be back to help fight as soon as possible." Zelda said to the Exceed.

"No." Erza grunted as her arm sealed over, "I can still fight."

"Erza you can't you don't have nearly enough energy left." Zelda complained, "You just battled Ganondorf for Nayru's sake." Zelda complained.

"I can still fight," Erza said firmly, looking into Zelda's eyes. She then turned to Wendy. "Wendy, help get the rest of the Rune knights out of the arena, anyone who is injured or cannot continue needs to leave."

Wendy nodded and flew off to get to work. Erza turned to the battlefield. The members of Fairy Tail, Saber-tooth, mermaid heel and many others stood in a stalemate on one side of the arena, the demons of Tartaros bared their fangs on the other backed by the hordes of monsters surrounding them. Erza paced forward with a fury. She thought about Lucy, Makarov, Cana, Gray, Natsu, Wakaba, Macao everyone she had grown up with her family. Link.

The conditions were met.

Opening her eyes she exploded with magic power interrupting everyone from their fights. "Requip Armadura Fairy Armour: Titania form." Everyone turned towards the source of the light emanating from Erza. The intense magic power that came from the suit of armour she now wore was incredible. The armour was pink in colour and far more grandiose than when she had worn it in Edolas. It had been a long time since she had worn it but this was the occasion. The armour to use when she was fighting for her guild.

She walked forward menacingly. Wielding a single shining sword in her right hand that she raised above her head.

"Mages of Fiore! On Me!" She roared. As she began to charge. Following her instruction the mages surrounding her all grinned and roared with the Queen of the Fairies joining her in her charge against Tartaros."

Makarov grinned and brought his fists onto his opponent. Mard Geer grimaced below them.

"Looks like the tides of this battle are about to change little demon." Makarov said in his booming voice, "Now you are facing the wroth of Fairy Tail!" With an explosive roar Makarov went in to kick the small figure of Mard Geer below him. His foot tore through the thorned rose vines that Mard Geer produced to defend himself and he struck the demon in front of him.

"Not even close, old man!" Mard Geer sneered as rose branches coiled up Makarov's legs and sinking thorns into his flesh. Instantly they constricted dragging Makarov to earth. "You and you little family will lose. None can withstand the power of a demons curse." He grinned "Just watch."

Gray streaked past his master's eyes as he chased a second ice make mage. Blue ice followed purple in a spiral of power. It was a high speed chase that took up the entire arena, both combatants were skating across mid-air tracks of their own making in their battle. His opponent was currently wearing a mask but Gray couldn't hide the strange sense of déjà vu he was feeling from this battle.

Grunting he unleashed an attack at his opposition. "Ice Make, Lance!" he called launching streams of ice bolts at his foe. In a great collision the other mage met his attack with one of his own. The explosion of ice particles caused Gray to shield himself. All too suddenly his foe burst from the ice cloud flying directly towards him. He was wielding a hammer of gargantuan size and it was aimed directly at Gray.

"Ice make Shield!" Gray called casting in front of him. The crystal shield spread out in front of him but was futile to the attack as it burst through and threw Gray into the ground. Gray got up as fast as he could and produced as many swords as he could around himself. With a roar he released them throwing them towards the armoured demon who was descending on him. The great man he was fighting was holding two ice blades of his own and spinning like a dervish he managed to easily counter the blades flying at him. He roared as he brought his blade down on Gray only to have it deflected by a new sword of Gray's.

Before the demon could attack again Gray thrust a spike of ice out of his elbow and swung round to attack the armoured man. The distraction worked. The demon blocked the elbow spike and was not ready for Gray's next forceful attack. Gray's hand landed on the demons cuirass. "Ice make Pillar." Gray roared. A pillar flew from his hand throwing the demon away for way before the armoured man suddenly stopped. Gray's Ice built around him as he poured magic power into his attack but his foe did not budge. The demon bellowed and shattered the ice surrounding him using only his arms. The demon grinned as he mirrored Gray producing a pillar of his own that struck Gray knocking him to the edge of the arena.

Makarov's eyes turned to Erza.

Erza tore through lesser monsters with the rage of a hurricane. No evil thing was spared from her rage. She was tired and she could feel it but she would continue she would force her way through. She loosed blades in every direction hitting anything that could be hit and interrupting any fight she could. She zoomed past Mira who had just collapsed to the floor screaming in her Satan Soul form. Her target was the rather busty helmeted demon who didn't even flinch in her presence.

"Erza Don't!" Mira shouted, from the lips of the demonic barmaid it was an order, an order that Erza ignored. Erza roared at the demon in front of her bringing her blade across in a wide arc the demon did not even flinch as she smiled.

"Sensation!" The demon ordered.

Instantly Erza faltered as pain wracked every pore from her body. She screamed in pain as a heeled boot collided with her armoured torso. Erza was blasted away.

"Tch, for the Queen of the Fairies you sure are reckless. You left yourself wide open and now… you're mine." The demon grinned bending over to grab a hand full of hair she pulled Erza up to eye level and licked her lips. "Now now, don't struggle… The sensation curse can become quite pleasant of you just relax."

Makarov shivered as he looked around the arena it wasn't just Gray, Mira and Erza, many members of other guilds were ready to fall as well. He could feel his body shrinking but the rose thorns didn't loosen for a second. Even Mace and Kagura were barely able to stand, they stood back to back both of them fresh out of energy.

"Your fairies are dropping like flies old man."

Makarov gave a glance to the portal that had erupted in the centre of the arena only an hour ago. He grimaced at the now ruined structure, abandoning the arena meant abandoning his remaining children on the other side, Link and Natsu. He sighed having no choice. He would have to trust them to find their own way home.

"So what are you going to do, don't tell me this is all you have to offer, are you not going to fight back more to protect your little guild?" Mard continued to taunt.

"Master, the city is now clear of people you can retreat now. Jellal is creating an opening for you." Makarov heard the voice in his head. He frowned letting his age show drastically as he shrunk to his normal size. Mard now towered over the man with a savage sneer. Makarov now only had one choice, he had to buy his friends the time to retreat.

"Mard Geer, Demon of Tartaros, you have won this battle, but you will never win this war." Makarov threatened.

"As a warning I shall count to three, cease your attack and surrender or face The Wrath of the Fairies." _Warren, in that time tell everyone to run as fast as they can. _He told Warren.

"Three,"

"A warning huh?" Mard frowned. Members of Fairy Tail turned to their master in shock as they heard the plan, clueless as to what he was about to attempt.

"Two,"

A flash of power erupted in one of Makarov's hands, so powerful it caused the entirety of Crocus to shake. The light burst through the vines covering Makarov leaving him standing surrounded by power. The man was un-ignorable to the demons of Tartaros as they shielded themselves from the light. Mard took a step back.

"One… Invoke, Fairy Law." Makarov commanded pointing two fingers at Mard Geer, A golden circle erupted from him and the sky above him lit up burning through the dark clouds above them. "All you mages here, you knights, you warriors, RUN! Run, my children!" Makarov shouted as he released more and more of his magic power.

"Mard removed the sleeve from his eyes in anger, the lesser monsters that once backed them up were fleeing in fear. This light was more than a mere warning, this was a real and genuine threat. "Demons! Stop him!" he yelled casting a powerful curse at the old man in front of him. Rose vines attempted to pierce the body of his foe but they bounced off as Makarov began to grow in size once again.

Makarov looked at the people surrounding him, at his allies and at his families. Wendy and Zelda were the first to take the initiative to force people out of the arena. Rune knights sprinted towards the exits while they could, the other guilds also ran carrying everyone that could not run themselves. Erza dragged herself up supported by Mira as they began to run no longer were they under Kyoka's curse as she was now occupied with the growing giant that threatened to end their very existence. They ran to the exit joining up with Gray, Wendy and Zelda. Who were looking on at their master tears in their eyes…

Tears? Why?

Erza's eyes widened and she turned in panic...

She met eyes of her master. They were filled with sorrow but there were no tears. Behind him a cloud of dark curses began to amass themselves.

"Master?" Erza said stepping forward.

"Erza, there is a long road ahead of you, but I will not walk it with you." Tears began to fall from Erza's eyes, she couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Know that I have treasured every day with you my children, watching you grow, I can honestly say those have been the greatest times of my life."

"Master! No you can't you can win this… you can win this can't you? Fairy Tail always wins." Erza cried.

"Master, don't be a hero!" Gray shouted, "You can get out of this hurry!"

"No, my fate was decided long ago." Makarov looked at Carla who looked away guiltily as she cried into Wendy. "These demons are right, physical magic cannot stand up to their curses, but never forget. There is a greater magic, you must learn to harness it. The magic of comradery, of friendship and of love. Never forget it. Erza, it's up to you now, you have to lead Fairy Tail in my place!" he shouted as a purple mist surrounded him.

"No master, you can't go!" Mira screamed covering her mouth, "Don't leave us…"

"Can I trust you to uphold the laws of Fairy Tail?!" he said through gritted teeth as the two spells grew in power combating each other in a terrifying mix of good and evil.

"Gramps! You can't!" Gray yelled.

"Can I trust you to never give up and to destroy evil where it stands?!"

"Master," Erza whispered, Wendy was now crying into Zelda's chest unable to watch.

"Can I trust you to follow my final command as the seventh master of Fairy Tail?"

They were silent as the man's body was consumed, his final words rang in their heads. "Run."

"Momento Mori!" They heard from behind Makarov and suddenly the mist became a great beam of light that cut through fairy law like water. Makarovs screams of pain were the last straw as Erza dropped her sword and pulled Mira, Wendy and Carla away running as fast as she could. Gray and Zelda followed blinded by their tears.

Makarov screamed behind streams of tears, one by one memories of his life, of his guild and of his children filled his head. One by one they disappeared as his existence was erased. He had not a single regret. He was satisfied with his life. With his sacrifice. To save his family one last time.

And with one final breath he raised his arm to point at the sky and spoke one last time, "I'll be watching, always. Fairy Tail."

Thousands looked on at that beam of light. Transcending both death and life the leader of Fairy Tail vanished without a trace.


	52. The Lone Hero

**Chapter 52 - The Lone Hero**

**24/12/2015**

**I finally managed to write this, the amount of blocks I had to fight through to get this on paper was unbelievable. Still I enjoyed writing this fight scene. There is an important author's note at the bottom of this chapter about the future of this story which i think you should all read especially those who have been following this story from the beginning or are writers themselves. **

**Anyway don't forget to fave, follow and review. **

**Enjoy!**

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Link could taste blood in his mouth. The sensation swelling as his teeth in anger. A cold fury filled his eyes countering the fire fuelled eyes of the man he was fighting. Ganondorf stood taller than Link could ever remember, leering over the boy with the cruel sneer of superiority.

Link gave a yell and swung the Master Sword at his foe once again. It clashed against the black jagged steel of Ghirahim. Link could feel the shockwave of power released on contact as the two spirits within the sword battled for dominance. Link grimaced and pushed against the blade hoping to drive Ganondorf back. The demon just sneered and pushed back crushing the boy between his blade and the ground.

"Farore's Wind!" Link yelled vanishing into thin air. He appeared only a few feet back from his original position and watched as Ganondorf stumbled forward.

An opening.

Link ran forward. Batted Ghirahim away with his shield. Thrust towards the heart.

The sword stopped just inches away. A large black hand gripped at the blade of the master sword stopping it before it could go any further.

Ganondorf growled, chastising himself for his foolish lapse in judgement. He threw Link back almost nearly one hundred feet. Link managed to land safely and met the eyes of the demon king. Ganondorf sneered as a cruel blue energy surrounded him.

"Come at me boy, try your luck."

Link prepared himself by reinforcing his body with magic power.  
"I'm going to make you pay for handing me this false power." Ganondorf said clenching his left fist, the mark of the triforce on it glowed faintly. Link knew that it was but a fraction of the triforce of power but it was still a fraction to be feared. Ganondorf slid his left foot back and raised his sword above his head. Instantly the power surrounding him vanished concentrated into one point. The tip of his sword.

"Demon's Storm!" Ganondorf called. A bolt of shining lightning struck the clouds from Ganon's blade. Instantly the sky darkened further and Link shuddered as he felt hundreds of magic circles open above him. Thunder rumbled making the earth tremble. All of a sudden the first circle unleashed hell. Great magic bolts fell to the earth like meteorites exploding as they hit the earth like rain. Link cursed as the other circles activated and held his shield above his head. He prayed that it would be able to take the impact of such a spell.

Link's eyes met Ganon's this magic was not going to stop him, he was a hero of legend. It was his duty to destroy the demon in front of him at whatever cost.

"Nayru's Love." Coating his shield in crystal Link surged forward, speeding up his movements to entirely new heights using Farore's wind. Ganondorf merely laughed as he watched the hero approach. His eyes glowed in the shadow of an explosion behind.

A bolt of magic exploded on Link's shield shattering Nayru's Love and casting an enormous cloud of smoke. Link used this and leapt through the cloud to attack Ganondorf. He raised his sword to point at the sky roaring as he descended on the demon. The shockwave produced by the clashing swords shattered what was left of the floor of the hall. Link released the hilt of his blade and fell below Ganondorf using his edge of his shield to smash Ganondorf in the torso. He then caught the falling master sword and flooded it with magic before attempting to strike the demon king again. A great black sword deflected the blade causing Link to back off a few paces as the storm died down. Link raised his blade to point at the throat of his enemy.

"Don't take me lightly Demise, I have grown in strength too for one goal. To take your heart!" Link roared.

All of Link's fury, all his anger powered his motions. Years of combat, years of training, years of honing his skills and building on his instincts were all for this moment. Link burst forward, his blade leaving a trail of light in its wake. Link thrust forward, Ganon defended. Link spun round for a horizontal strike. Ganon defended. Ganon pressed his advantage Link rolled below the blade and made an attempt on the demon king's legs. Ganon trod on the holy blade treading it into the earth as he brought his own blade down on Link. Link raised his shield supporting it with his sword hand before launching a Din's flame towards the ground to give him the boost needed to throw Ghirahim out of the way. Link the spun round to deliver a series of kicks, punches and shield bashes at Ganon. All of them landed and Ganondorf was helpless to all of them. One final shield bash knocked the demon king back enough for him to retrieve his blade.

Link picked his blade up thrusting it into the sky. Power ran up the blade and Link didn't hesitate to lash out. A blade of light flew out of the master sword and struck Ganondorf with an almighty explosion of light.

Link didn't even question if the demon was still alive, he thrust forward and continued to attack. Blade once again met blade in a furious flurry of clashes. Ganondorf was no longer on the defensive though. He had chosen to regain his lost ground and force Link back.

A cruel feint gave Ganon the chance he needed. He brought his blade down on Link who blocked it with his shield. Link prepared to counter attack but soon realised his mistake. Ganon's fist broke through Link's defence hitting his square in the chest. Link grimaced as he was forced to the other end of the hall. Link thrust the Master Sword into the earth using it to slow his momentum. Blood leaked out of Link's mouth furious the warrior spat it out and once again raised his blade to the sky. Ganondorf did the same.

"Farore's Wind!" Link yelled as a battle cry. His entire body was forced forward by the spell his blade shone blindingly as he soared towards Ganondorf. Ganondorf sliced downwards in his own skyward strike. The black streak tore through the earth towards Link. Link simply placed his shield in front of himself allowing it to nullify the magic. The explosion was monumental but it was not enough to stop Link.

"Your existence disgusts me!" Link roared as he thrust forward to attack Ganondorf. Ganondorf blocked it but took one step back.

"You destroy innocent lives." Link broke Ganondorf's defence leaving his chest wide open.

"All for your own selfish gains." Link spotted a tear in Ganondorf's armour and the one he had made when Ganondorf was still Acnologia. He went for it striking to draw blood. Link then began his true rampage.

"You manipulate, steal,"

Ganondorf remained silent as the master sword sliced through his flesh. Link just continued.

"Lie and Destroy"

Ganondorf's armour was now just shredded pieces of metal scattering the floor as the master sword did away with them.

"Maim and kill." Link raised his sword it gained light for one last time before being coated in crystal, wind and fire. "The Goddesses have judged you."

Link thrust his blade into the bare chest of Ganondorf piercing the heart of the great demon. "And they want rid of you."

The Demon choked, blood dripping out of his mouth and marring Link's face. Ganon's eyes were locked with the hero's as he fell to his knees in defeat. Mortal enemies were silent as the light in the demon's eyes faded. With a final breath the demon died.

Link couldn't look away from the dead eyes of his foe. Had he done it? Had he slain his greatest enemy? He had done it, after a long year he had… completed his mission. Slowly Link drew the Master Sword from the heart of the demon and let the tip of the blade hit the floor with a definitive chime. Link's heart rate slowed, as he breathed out a shaken breath. Link fell to his knees his muscles aching as the adrenaline finally wore off. He looked up at the sky. The sky was clear, the clouds of Demise's malice had vanished already. The stars shone down on Link. A tear fell from Link's eye, even after 3000 years the stars had not changed since the last time his blade had destroyed his foe. Yet so much had. Link couldn't help but smile, his fight was over, he was free. So why did he feel a sense of unease

Link frowned but buried the thought, he had won, which meant he could go home… Pulling himself up, he turned to the destroyed portal in the centre of the ruins and frowned.

"Looks like I'm going the long way? I hope she can wait." Link said.

"She'll be waiting a long time Hero!"

Link's eyes widened and he jumped out of the way. The sword tore through the hero's green tunic narrowly avoiding the body beneath it. Link rolled spinning on his shield to face the cause of his unease. Ganondorf grinned at the terrified face of his enemy.

"As if it would be that easy for you to defeat me, my soul has existed for many millennia more than yours has and that sword has been shoved into me one too many times. Death no longer has meaning to me. Remember our curse boy, you and I are intertwined by fate. So long as you breathe I breathe too." Link's eyes widened as the Demon flew towards him. Link held up his shield but it was futile, he was cast aside like a rag doll.

"And if you thought my human form was weaker than my dragon form you were sorely mistaken. It is time I showed you the gap between our powers." The demon grinned breathing in, "Etherion Dragons Roar!"

Link instinctively cast Nayru's love as a whirlwind of blue light soared towards him. The crystal shattered in seconds and the attack tore at Link shredding the armour off the hero. Link flew back and collided with a wall. His chainmail and undershirt in tatters from the attack. The hero's tunic all but gone. If it were not for the Hylian shield Link would no doubt be dead.

Link pulled himself up, pain wracked his body. The week of fighting began to weigh down on him. Link knew his magic power was at an all time low but the fight was not over, he still had to win this. Before he could raise a counter attack Ganondorf was on him. Link just managed to defend as the demon's blade cast him into the sky. Link was helpless as Ganondorf jumped up and punch Link back to Earth with a fist coated in blue magic. Link coughed blood and felt his crack as he collided with the earth. Ganon grinned descending on the hero with his sword aiming for his heart.

Link managed to teleport away with moments to spare and in desperation fired a weak din's flame in the direction he had just been before falling to the floor in utter agony. Ganondorf only laughed as he let the din's flame hit him. It did nothing but make him look even more menacing as he walked out of the flames.

Ganondorf leapt towards Link with his sword raised. Link raised his shield to deflect the blade and stabbed his blade forward towards Ganondorf. The Demon was too quick though and tore the blade from Link's hands. With a final punch into the earth the hero was well and truly defeated. Link's eyes began to mist over. Link could feel darkness descending on him. Link stood on the edge of a great black cliff… and it was crumbling.

He could hear Ganondorf talking but it was pointless to listen it was no doubt some kind of boast. The raised sword of the demon was coated in an unbearable energy that pulled all the willpower out of Link. He had lost, was there any purpose in fighting anymore.

Tears fell from Link's eyes as he saw his death building in Ganon's blade. Link closed his eyes and remembered his mission from the goddesses, He had failed, it was all over.

Link sighed clenching his body for the demon's attack. He decided to open his eyes and face the death with courage like Ganondorf had looking into the eyes of his executioner.

Link opened his eyes incrementally to see the blade fall, he could hardly feel the pressure it was giving off. The sense of doom it drove into the world. He just accepted it. Accepted his death without the thought of anything else. Time slowed as Link looked past the blade into the night sky. How peaceful it was. How the moon and the stars and the golden symbol of Fairy tail shone above his foe. Link met the comforting eyes of a fairy before he peacefully fell unconscious.

"Your part is not over yet… Hero of the Fairies."

* * *

**Important AN.**

**It is about time I let you know why this fan-fiction hasn't been updating recently. I am fine other than a slightly larger workload from uni but that is not something I should be complaining about. The truth is I have lost my enthusiasm to write for this particular fan-fiction. You may be able to see this in my chapters because I know I can. Slowly the quality of my writing has deteriorated as my inspiration had fallen. **

**So I have regretfully decided to stop writing for this story. **

**You may be wondering then why I haven't just ended the fan-fiction in this chapter, that is because it was a very recent decision of mine. Originally I wanted to continue it for a bit longer to tie off a few loose ends and complete the side arcs but then I decided that I should stop writing this story so I could work on new and more exciting projects. I put on the brakes too late and too fast to be able to close the story properly and so**** I have decided to put the story UP FOR ADOPTION. **

**Truthfully I have loved every second of writing this fan-fiction from the early stages of thinking about it while watching Fairy Tail all the way up to hearing feedback from your awesome reviews. To everyone who has reviewed, I thank you so much because you have taught me so much and influenced my writing in far more ways than you know. This especially includes all the people who have helped me from incredibly early on when I was a complete novice writer. People like Jackflame, schniedragon88, Nik799, Nalufordays, wolfshadow96, Telron and many more you guys have been awesome reviewers so thanks :) **

**As for people who wish to adopt the story, please PM me if you are interested and we will talk about it. You do not have to be a fantastic writer because god knows I'm not and I certainly wasn't one when I first started out. You can also write at your own pace and even take the story in a whole new direction if you would like, I look forward to meeting whoever volunteers to do so. **

**To all my followers and favourites or even if you're just passing through, I would love it if you could give me one final review to help me and my future stories. Which chapters did you like/dislike? Which were your favourite/least favourite fights, fluffy or funny moments, arcs, side stories? Is there anything I should improve on in the story or in my writing? Was my grammar atrocious? Were there points in the story where I didn't seem to know what I was writing? Were there any moments that made you laugh, cry, cringe or smile? Most of all was my fan-fiction enjoyable and would you recommend it to others?**

**Anyway, Thank you all so much once again for reading and I hope to see you in the next story I write.**

**Until then. See you soon! XD**


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